Maybe I Love You But I'm Probably Crazy
by KissedByMoonlitNights
Summary: We're trapped in the boxes society puts us in. Butterflys with our wings clipped. But what does it take to set us free? Kyoya is about to find out when he meets a girl that makes him question his entire life and the extent of his limitations. Kyoya/OC
1. Dirty American Songs

**Hey guys! So this is my very first fan fiction and I'm super nervous about sharing it with everyone. Hope you like it!**

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Music blared overhead and mixed with the laughter and idle talk of the people in the room. At first glance, they appeared to look, dress and behave exactly as high class society in Japan. The women all wore dresses of high end designers, some of them costing so much money they could probably feed an entire third world country, and the men wearing sunglasses, shoes, expensive leather, giving them an effortlessly cool edge. They all flashed smiles at each other that would put even the brightest stars to shame and when they looked at you, one got the feeling of being judged as inferior and the stake of their condescension drove through your heart. Yup. They were exactly like the Japanese. But there was one main difference; they were Americans.

"Urgh. American music is so...dirty, how can they all be so calm about it." Haruhi said as she glanced around the room in disgusted amazement. In one hour, she had heard more about sex, drugs and crime than she had ever cared to hear but the fact that it was in tune with catchy dance beats was just, well, down right strange. "Remind me why we're here again?"

Her boyfriend Tamaki looked away from the mini hot dogs he and the twins had been fawning over and smiled down at his girlfriend. "Now Haruhi, have you learned nothing from being in the host club? There's a time and a place for work and seriousness but you really need to let loose once in awhile." Then he switched into hyper-overdramatic mode, "And besides what better way to understand American culture than to attend casual social functions with our peers while eating these delicious mini-hotdogs! Haruhi, just look at them! They're tiny, yet strangely filling!"

Haruhi just simply started at him in confusion. "Yeah, whatever you say..."

She was just about to turn away and walk in search of Mori and Hunny, who would hopefully be a little more calm than Tamaki, when she suddenly felt someone come up behind her, and heard a smooth, masuline voice "Hmph. And I though Rachel was an idiot, but this guy puts even her to shame."

She looked over her shoulder and saw a boy who appeared to be about eighteen or nineteen, 5'10 with tousled brown hair that had streaks of pink in it and which was swept casually to the side so as not to get in his eyes, which were green with flecks of blue. He wore a dark gray v-necked vest over a black dress shirt with the top buttons undone, a pair of dark skinny jeans and black Converse sneakers. He saw her looking at him and smiled warmly. Tilting his head slightly to the side, he asked "You're Haruhi Fujioka right? The exchange student from Japan." He extended his hand to her. She shook it, "Yes and may I ask who you are?" He smiled again, "Aw sweetheart, you have the cutest accent. My name's Jackson Cooper, we have English together."

A few feet away, Tamaki froze, turned white and slowly looked over at Haruhi, the twins stopped what they were doing as well and looked over in interest. "Oh that's right. I remember now." Haruhi said, relaxing and smiling back, "You sit just behind Mori Senpai right?"

"Mori? You mean that tall, good looking, black haired guy? Yes." Suddenly he got a coy look in his eyes, "Mori might be good looking, but you are just about the cutest thing I've ever seen." He stepped smoothly forward and wrapped his arm around Haruhi, pulling her close. "How about you ditch that idiot blond boyfriend of yours over there and let me show you around New York. This is your first time here right?"

It was too much for Tamaki, "HEY GET AWAY FROM HARUHI YOU PUNK!" He grabbed Haruhi away from Jackson, "HARUHI, HOW COULD YOU LET THIS EVIL MAN FLIRT WITH YOU IN SUCH A DISGRACEFUL WAY! YOU MUST STAY STRONG AND REGET HIM, ARE YOU FORGETTING THAT YOU ALREADY HAVE A BEAUTIFUL, PERFECT, STRONG AND HANDSOME BOYFRIEND ALREADY!"

"Senpai, stop making a big deal out of nothing." Haruhi said as she calmly pushed Tamaki off her. Tamaki turned white again, the cloud of despair hovering over his head as he visibly deflated. "She thinks it's nothing...she thinks..." Suddenly they both noticed laughter coming from behind them. The twins and Jackson were doubled over laughing. Hikaru was the first to recover, choking back his laughter he gave Jackson a high five, "Well played, dude." Jackson ran a hand through his hair and smirked at the twins and Tamaki, "He really is a spaz...I could be looking at Rachel's twin.

Haruhi, opend her mouth to ask who Rachel was but was interrupted by Mori and Hunny who had just joined them. Jackson stepped forward and introduced himself.

"Hey Haru-chan guess what, Mori and I were at the mall and on our way here we passed a strange looking shop and so we went in and I got this!" Hunni proudly rolled up his sleeve and showed Haruhi a tattoo of a pink bunny, just like Usachan on his left arm.

Everyone, except Mori and Jackson, gaped down at it in half shocked horror. Mori looked blank as usual and Jackson just looked confused. "I can't believe this kid is eighteen."

"Hunny-senpai you got a tattoo! What will your parents think!" Haruhi exclaimed frantically.

Hunny looked up at her, his eyes turned big and innocent. "But Haru-chan I thought you'd like it. It's really cute. Besides it comes off with water..." Everyone sweat dropped.

"Hunny, you nearly gave us a heart attack!"

"Mori you could have at least told us it was fake!"

No response.

"Okay...well that was certainly exciting, I'll get us some drinks okay?" Jackson left and returned a few minuted later with drinks for everyone.

"Sorry it took so long, I had to make sure they weren't spiked." he said apologetically as he passed them around. "Sp-spiked?" they all said in alarm. "Oh sure. I mean granted this isn't really a frat party or one of those wild drunken high school parties that commoners have where that kind of stuff is rampant, but still it's been known to happen." He laughed suddenly, "One time at a Christmas party, we managed to slip Vodka into Gertrude Kitcheners drink and she was up on a table top the rest of the night in her underwear, singing Come All Ye Faithful." He was still chuckling as he took a sip of his drink. Everyone else looked down nervously into their cups and took a hesitant mouthful.

"Oh, Haruhi I've been meaning to ask, earlier you called Mori and Hunni 'senpai', is that an honorific?"

Haruhi swallowed her watermelon flavored fruit punch before answering, "Yes, 'senpai' refers to...an older student and 'chan' is a close friend or a younger person."

"Oh! I see. I'm sorry I'm not very good with Japanese. I only know Spanish and English. Languages are more of my sister and her friends forte. Rachel and Shona are the best at them though, they're each fluent in more than eight different languages."

"Wow," Karou said fairly impressed. "They must be really smart."

"They are but I think, for Shona at least, most of it comes from experience. She's been moving around from country to country since she was three. Her mom finally found a stable job here when she was fourteen and she's been here ever since. Then Rachel met her and picked up a few things and there you have it."

Haruhi looked at Jackson in interest. His whole face seemed to soften when he talked about them and his downcast eyes had a faraway look in them. "So, is Rachel just a friend or..." she trailed off suggestively.

Jackson looked up and Haruhi could have sworn she detected a faint blush appear on his pale cheeks. "No, no she's just a friend, practically a sister."

"Hmph. Sure she is." Haruhi thought, hiding her smile by taking another sip from her cup.

Jackson looked around around at all the knowing looks he was getting. "What! It's true, she's not even attractive! Why would I fall for someone like her? Now Shona on the other hand...that girl is like cat nip for men. If I wasn't gay-"

Everyone choked on their drinks.

"G-gay? Really?" sputtered Tamaki. "But earlier you were flirting with Haruhi...you can't be gay! Unless you think my sweet Haruhi looked like a guy!" Tamaki's voice kept going up an octave, "I mean it's true she has a rather flat chest-" Haruhi smacked him upside the head, "SENPAI!"

Hikaru smiled mischievously, "Boss, aren't you gonna ask his type? I bet he was flirting with Haruhi because he likes the Natural type."

Karou smirked at Jackson and put his arms around his twin, "We used to be a Host Club back in Japan."

Mori: "Yeah."

Jackson laughed, tossing his head, "Haruhi is cute, but I already know my type," he said sidling up to Kyoya who had joined them a few minutes ago, and said sweetly, "So, how about it, cutie? Take some chances you might be surprised."

"As tempting as that sounds, I'd have to decline." Kyoya replied just as sweetly.

"Ah well, can't blame a guy for trying." Jackson said shrugging his shoulders.

As they had been talking, the room had grown more crowded and people were starting to bump together a little. If possible, the music had gotten even louder than before.

"Tonight, I'll be your naughty girl...tonight I'm calling all the girls. We're gonna turn this party out, I know you want my body."

"Oh my god, more dirty songs. Don't you Americans listen to anything...normal?" a clearly exasperated Haruhi asked Jackson. He smirked at her, "Honey child, if you think this is dirty, you ain't heard nothing yet. Speaking of which, let me introduce everyone to Shona!"

He reached to his side and pulled a girl away from the sandy haired man she had been talking to.

"Everyone, meet my best friend, Shonali Johari." Jackson said, wrapping his arm around the girl's waist. Shonali had flawless olive skin, deep set hazel eyes and ebony hair just reaching midback. She seemed to be about 5'6 and she wore a royal purple colored dress with a heart shaped neckline, which showed off and enhanced every inch of her curvy hourglass figure and displayed her perfectly toned legs.

She smiled brightly at everyone, "Just Shona is fine."

For a second everyone froze, Shona seemed nice enough and she was definitely very beautiful... but that smile seemed too familiar...uncomfortably familiar.

"You look great Shona-chan!" Hunny bouncing forward to hug her.

Shona's eyes widened, "Hunny! Oh, I didn't know you were here! How have you been? I'd say you've gotten bigger since I saw you last, but you really haven't." She smiled as she hugged Hunny back.

"You two know each other?" Hikaru and Kaoru asked simultaneously. Shona straightened and glanced up, "you're the Hitachiin brothers right? Hikaru and Kaoru?"

Hunny, who was now hanging on to Shona's waist said, "That's right, and that's Taskashi, Tama-chan, Haru-chan and Kyo-chan." Then he addressed the others, "Shona-chan and I have known each other since I was eight and she was seven. She lived in Japan for a year, only a mile away from our main estate. We used to have so much fun together, but then she moved away..." He looked sad for a moment, but then cheered up. "See, I told you Shona-chan! I told you we'd be friend forever! We met again!"

She smiled again, and gently pulled Hunny off of her.

Jackson suddenly looked concerned and turned to her saying quietly, "Are you sure you're really feeling okay? You've been a little off lately and..."

She brushed him off, as she turned slightly to give an overly cheerful smile and wave back to the grey haired man who had just passed her with a wave and a "nice-see-you."

"I'm fine Jackson."

"Are you sure. Come on you know you can tell me how you really feel."

The room darkened and the crowed bumped and jostled together screaming, as a voice announced from above. "And now, ladies and gentlemen, students of McKinnley High, please put your hands together for tonight's first act...Eternal Vortex!"

Jackson had to shout over the screams of the crowd, how had by now completely lost their cool swagger in the excitement or were too drunk to care.

"Are you sure?"

In the dim lighting the Host club could just make out her expression change from happy to annoyed. "Fine," she snapped, "you wanna know how I really feel? I've been smiling like an idiot to all these rich, whiney little stuck up babies for the past two hours while guys have been staring at my chest and practically undressing me with their eyes, I'm SO tired of it and so in short I feel like a hooker."

"Yeah, but a high class hooker. For governors or Bill Clinton." Jackson half jokingly said.

She wrinkled her nose, "I can't take this anymore. I need some air. Have any cigarettes?"

"Now, Shona! You know smoking those things is bad for you!"

"I know, I know." She sighed in defeat and then leaned forward and hugged him. "Okay your right, I think I'm going to got find Rachel and the girls." She took advantage of the bubble of space that had formed around them to walk away. Jackson smiled and reached down for something in his back pocket as she walked away.

"Hey where did..." He looked up and his eyes narrowed... ""Shonnaaa..."

She turned and gave him a sweet smile, holding up a small pack with her index and middle finger, sticking out her tongue before disappearing into the crowd.

"Her face...it looked almost evil." Tamaki said as Haruhi's hand tightened around his. They were both thinking the same thing.

"I'm getting worried about her..." Jackson looked around and sighed before pulling out his phone. "I have to go take care of something before the Preforming Arts Club takes the stage, but please you guys, enjoy the party. It was nice meeting you and if it's not asking too much, will you please keep an eye out for Shona? She needs to be with us on stage in two hours, so..."

Tamaki put his hand on Jackson's shoulder, "Yeah don't worry, we'll keep an eye out and if we see her, we'll tell her to find you."

As Jackson disappeared into the crowd just as Shona had earlier, the Host Club traded glances. They didn't know what it was but an eerie sense of deja vu had taken over them. They didn't know if it was the hair, or her demeanor or the differences in her smiles but in a small way, Shona reminded them of someone. As if they could read each others thoughts, they all turned to look at Kyoya, who was calmly watching the band throw themselves off the stage and into the arms of the crowd.

She reminded them of Kyoya.

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**So? Tell me what you think! Please review! I can't wait to get started on the next couple chapters, I have so much planned for The Host Club, Jackson, Shona and we'll finally meet Rachel and the rest of the Performing Arts Club! Btw, I know it says the fic is about Kyoya but there's also some stuff planned for the other characters like Hikaru, Mori and Jackson. Plus, we'll get to see more of Haruhi and Tamaki's relationship. This story is heavily influenced by Glee, music from all over the world and Indian movies (which I LOVE). BTW: here's a little tidbit, Shonali is from India. :) :) So anyways, please review because I do write for myself only and as I mentioned before, this is my first time sharing with anyone! If I think that no one reads this, I'll just go back to writing for myself. :) See you next weekend!**

**xoxoxo, KMN**


	2. Of Days Past

**Okay, I got a little bored and was hit with some inspiration for after half an hour, this was the result. It was going to be longer originally, but then I felt like it was too much so I moved some content to chapter 3. I hope people like it! Oh, but before you start reading here's a little background info so you don't get confused:**

**1. the song that the little girl sings in the begginning of the chapter is actually in Hindi, but I translated it for all you lovely people.**

**2. In case you're interested, here are the original lyrics:**

** Mhare Hiwda Mein Nache Mor, Tak Thaiya Thaiya, Bhavre Ne Machaya Shor, Khili Dil Ki Kaliyan, Badla Mausam, Badle Nazare, Ya Badla Hai Nazariya, Mhare Hiwda Mein Nache Mor, Tak Thaiya Thaiya...****3. I would probably stay away from looking this up on youtube. The video that goes with it is amazingly terrible.**

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A little ebony haired girl ran singing through the tall, green grasses swaying gently under the open blue sky:

_ In my soul, the peacocks dance to the beat: Tak Thaiya Thaiya_

"Wait for me sweetheart!" an out of breath voice called after her. The girl's laugh mingled with the sounds of running water and the sounds of spades against the earth. She threw a mischievous look over her shoulder, her hazel eyes twinkling with delight as she continued to trill her song in Hindi:

_ The bees buzzed, the blossoms of my heart bloomed_

Some working farmers stopped hitting their spades into the earth to peer up and watch the pair, smiling gently and saying, "There goes the master and his daughter." "She's growing up to be quite beautiful isn't she?" and "Too bad they're only here for the summer."

_ Did the season change? Did the scene change? Or was it my point of view that changed?_

The girl stopped to pluck a vivid orange flower from the earth and place it in her hair. Just as the man running behind her caught up. He turned her to face him, and picked her up, tossing her laughing form into the sky before catching her and setting her down on his shoulders. "Your chariot my princess."

She giggled, "Daddy!" The man started to walk forewords, "Tell me princess what was that song you were singing? It wasn't one of mine..."

She leaned foreword and rested her cheek against the top of his head. "That nice sick lady from Japan taught it to me. Mrs...Mrs Oto...something. She said it was her favorite song when she was a kid. She said it reminds her of her youngest son because she used to sing it to him every night before she got sick." She paused for a minute and continued to hum the song to herself, then "Daddy?"

"Yes darling?"

"Do you think she'll get better?"

The man took one of the little girl's hands that was hanging close to his neck and kissed it, "I hope so sweetheart. I hope so." He gently lifted her off his shoulders and set her down on the ground before getting down on one knee to be eye level with her, "But even if she doesn't, there's one thing I want you to remember, sometimes people we love die but instead of feeling sad we should be happy because they're never really gone. People are kept alive when we think of them, when we tell their stories to other people, when we share their songs with the world.

Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

The girl looked thoughtful for a second, "If that lady dies... her son would be sad..." then her eyes lit up, "I know! I'll got to Japan and marry that boy and sing him that song everyday so he won't be lonely!"

The air of seriousness was broken as the man began to laugh. "Really, is that what you plan on doing little lady?"

"Yup." She flashed him a big grin and ran off again, a little pixie under the Indian sun.

_ In my soul the peacocks dance to the beat: Tak Thaiya Thaiya_

_***End flashback***_

Shona sighed and leaned against the cool white marble of the school building, letting the evening air caress and kiss her face. She was sitting on a bench that jutted out from the wall of one of the many spacious balconies surround the school, cigarette in hand, lost in past memories.

"I was so young. I didn't understand what you were trying to say then, but now I do and it's too late. Daddy I miss you."

Another memory flashed into being. This time she was lying on her stomach on the floor of her bed room in Barcelona, coloring giant music notes into all her notebooks.

"Shonali! Sweetheart, where are you?" a voice in the hallway called.

"I'm in here!"

A man with black hair that was showing signs of greying, wearing jeans and a t-shirt came in. "There's my shona!" he plucked her off the floor and hugged her. "Daddy missed you thiiiiiissss much."

"Shona?"

He smiled and let her go. "Yes, it means sweet in Bengali. You're my shona little girl."

She giggled and she hugged him back this time, "Daddy, you're so silly."

_***end flash back***_

Shonali felt her eyes begin to water. Probably a combination of sadness and the cigarette smoke wafting in her face. She looked at it in disgust. Truly she didn't like smoking and she wished she could stop, but lately she'd been feeling so frustrated with "acting like a proper lady" as her mother so aptly put it that she wanted to find some way, any small way to rebel and fight back against the chains her mother held wrapped around her throat. Often she found herself thinking, "if dad was still alive things would be different."

She chanced a glance at her watch. "I need to be on the stage in an hour, but a few more minutes won't hurt." Joining the Performing Arts club had been another way to fight back against her mother, but with mixed results. On one hand she had met Rachel and everyone else. They had become like a family to her and everyone, especially Rachel had helped fill the void left by her father. Besides that, she enjoyed singing and dancing, but then on the other hand was her mother's constant disapproval. She knew her mother wouldn't dare stop her from joining the Club, her dad had been a famous songwriter and musical producer after all, but she still thought that it was "improper" for a girl to do the same thing. Especially in American society, where songs could be about "shocking" topics like kissing, love or god forbid, sex. So, Shonali was allowed to sway in the background, dance if she absolutely must, but never show her full potential. So, the frustration inside her mounted, finding release in violent, passionate bursts. There were positive times, when she funneled her feelings into the mountain of songs lying unsung on her desk and there were negative times like last month during Jackson's birthday party when she got drunk, made out with Chase Winters and then proceeded to have sex with him in the backseat of his Porsche.

She sighed and looked up at the sky, "Ugh, why me?" Suddenly a cool, masculine voice spoke from a few feet away, "Talking to the sky, first sign of insanity."

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**WELL? What did you think? Let me know in a review!**

**- KMN**

**PS. I know its a lot to ask but if you could, do you think you could (in the reviews) leave some songs that you think represent Kyoya, Tamaki, The Twins and Haruhi. I need IDEAS! :)**


	3. She's a Piece of Work

**Ah ha! I know you all thought I wouldn't be here this weekend, that I would break your hearts like so many other inconsistent writers with thier late updates. But I'm here on time! YAY! Enjoy!**

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Shonali looked over to see the blacked haired boy with glasses from before, leaning against the open door way. Otori...yes that was his name. Kyoya Otori. The third son of very powerful Japanese family that dealt predominantly in medicine She already knew his father and his brother Akito. Or rather, her sister knew the latter. A little too well in her opinion.

Shonali smirked at him, "Ah, but one man's insanity is another's genius."

"True, but that other person is probably insane too."

"All the best people are."

He chuckled " So Miss Johari, might I inquire as to why you've decided to come out here to yell at the sky?"

"And I might as well ask the same thing of you Otori-san. Although, clearly you're not hear to unburden your feelings on the sky, being as you are, oh so painfully sane."

"Actually," another voice spoke up, "We were here to look for you." The blond haired boy emerged followed by the cute little brown haired girl, two red headed twins and the tall silent black haired boy on whose shoulders Hunny was riding. Tamaki Suoh, Haruhi Fujioka, Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin and Tasashi Morinozuka. I mentally ran down everything mother had drilled into my head about them, as she did with all rich kids that she thought it would benefit our family to know. A lady must always know the right people.

"Let me guess Jackson is looking for me." I sighed, and stamped out my cigarette before tossing it aside. Hunny came and sat down beside me, "He said something about you needing to be up stage in an hour, Shona-chan."

"I know. I just needed a few minutes to myself first."

Shonali looked away slightly as she said this and her body tensed a little. Hunny sensed something was bothering her but she didn't want to talk about it in front of everyone. He felt his heart sink a little as he looked at the beautiful black haired girl sitting beside him. Shona was so different now, she'd changed a lot in the years since they had been friends. Hunny had seen her smile a lot tonight, but it was never the same as it was when they were children. No where near as happy, or as bright. It was dulled and almost seemed a little forced. Hunny looked up at Haruhi who was staring at him curiously, her head cocked to the side.

She turned to Tamaki, "Look, at all the pretty flowers over there!" pointing across the balcony as she spoke, "lets go look at them!"

Tamaki looked down at her in confusion "Wha-" Haruhi cut off his protest as she grabbed his arm and proceeded to drag him along towards the flowers. "Come on you two" she said to the twins as she passed them. Kyoya followed and Mori looked down at Hunny once before going after Kyoya.

Hunny moved closer to Shonali and gently put a hand on her shoulder and spoke in Japanese "Shona-chan, what's wrong?" She glanced up at him in half alarm, "What are you talking about Hunny? There's nothing wrong."

"Don't lie, Not to me."

She looked down again "Hunny..."

"Remember when we were kids? We used to play together everyday. You were always so cheerful. You sang and danced around all the time. When you smiled, the whole room brightened just a little. That was the Shona, I remember. That was the Shona who was my friend. But this person that I see now isn't her. You've been keeping this fake smile plastered to your face and you seem irritable and I can tell something's bothering you. Now you won't even tell me what's wrong. I thought our friendship meant more to you than that."

As he had been speaking, her hands had clenched into small fists and she had trembled a little. Now Shonali turned to face Hunny, a glint of anger in her hazel eyes. "Hunny, I haven't heard from you in years. You never answered the phone whenever I called, you never even tried to call me, you never replied whenever I sent you sweets from all of the places I was living in, like I promised I would."

Now it was Hunny's turned to look confused. "What are you talking about? I-"

Shonali cut him off, "You never visited me like you said you would. You didn't even come for my dad's funeral. Don't you dare, lecture me on friendship Mitsukuni! " She started to get up from the bench to leave, but Hunny pulled her back with surprising strength.

"Shonali! What are you talking about? I called you at least once a month, but your mom would always tell me you were out with friends. I tried to visit you twice, but you were away on a trip with your father..." Suddenly he stopped speaking and froze. "When?"

Her eyebrows knitted together and spoke in a faltering voice, "I don't understand. You're lying. You have to be. How could-"

He took her hands his his, and asked again, "When?"

Shonali looked at the little blond haired boy sitting next to her and looked into his sweet, wide brown eyes, "I was ten. He had lung cancer."

Kyoya leaned back against the railing and listened to Haruhi scolding Tamaki for his complete stupidity, "Honestly. couldn't you tell he wanted to talk to her alone? Even the twins understood that!"

"Yeah that's right- HEY!"

Kyoya laughed inwardly, "Idiot." He turned his attention to Hunny and Shonali who sat with their heads bowed together, gold and obsidian,. Shonali was talking and every once in a while, Hunny would give her hands a reassuring squeeze or say a few short words. The lolita boy was hardly ever serious, but now he sat by her solemnly, holding her hands with both his own.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Kyoya looked over and saw Kaoru sitting on the edge of the railing beside him.

"Family trouble I think, she's said "mother" and "father" several times. Although, her father died when she was ten."

Kaoru looked at Kyoya in exasperated amazement, "How do you know that?"

"I remember Father went to his funeral when I was ten. Apparently Johari-san was a good friend of my mother's."

Kaoru's golden filled with something like pity as he gazed at his friend. "Today's the anniversary of her death isn't it? He put a comforting hand on Kyoya's shoulder, but Kyoya stopped him before he could speak, "Stop I know what you're going to say. Tamaki got there before you did. I'm fine. I was only six when she died. I barely remember her."

"Stop lying to yourself." Kaoru hopped off the railing, sensing it was unwise to press the issue. He looked back over at Shonali and Hunny, who were still deep in conversation. "So, family troubles huh, must be pretty bad."

Kyoya said nothing.

Kaoru sighed, "Fine, be that way."

He walked back to join the others who were huddled together in a group. Kyoya remained alone, leaning against the balcony, lost in his thoughts about times when the sun shone a little brighter, when the birds sang a little sweeter and when her voice had still trilled among them.

"I'm sorry Shona-chan. I feel terrible. I wasn't there for you when you needed me." Hunny hung his head.

"Oh, no don't say that! It wasn't your fault. I guess my mother just didn't want me to see you anymore. She probably thought you were a bad influence." Normally, Shonali would've found this hilarious. Honey was so cute and innocent, it was hard to imagine anybody thinking he would be a bad influence.

Honey wrinkled his nose and looked up at her, "What?"

She shrugged, "Remember when we were younger, and how you would always do whatever you wanted and didn't care about the consequences? Like how you love cute things and sweets even though being a Haninozuka meant practicing self-restraint. Now that I look back on it, I realize she probably thought that being friends with someone like you would bring out certain...ah... undesirable characteristics in me."

"I still don't understand."

Shonali sighed and leaned back against the cool marble of the building. Both she and Hunny seemed completely unaware of the six people who were currently hiding behind a rose bush a few feet away from them.

_"Ow! Kaoru, stop poking me!"_

_"Well then move over a little Hikaru, I can't see anything."_

_"Shut up both of you!" _Tamaki said in a strangled voice. He was pushed up against the white marble wall of the building and was trying extra hard to not let his blond hair be seen over the top of the rose bush.

"_You guys, why are we doing this? I thought I made it clear we should give them some privacy."_ came Haruhi's voice amidst the tangle of bodies.

"_They've been talking for fifteen minutes and we're bored!"_ said Hikaru.

_"And besides, we want to find out about her."_

_"Well, you're going to miss everything if you keep talking._" said Kyoya as the twins began to bicker again.

Shonali had started speaking.

"She doesn't want me to sing. Or dance. Actually, she would prefer it if I did nothing at all. After all, that's what a real lady does."

"She doesn't let you sing? But your father was a great singer and he preformed all over the world...why would she-?" He let the question hang in the air between them.

Shonali let out a small puff of air, "Ah, but there's a huge difference between my father and I, he's a man and I am a woman. Men are allowed to do whatever they want, but women must always conform to other's expectations of them. Be quiet, sit still, sit straight, smile... Singing anything other than lullabys to children is out of the question. And dancing? Forget it."

"That's not fair."

"Of course it's not fair, but it's life. More specifically it's my life. My brother will inherit everything my mother has, meanwhile my sister and I will be expected to make nice, respectable marriages and then give male heirs to our husbands. It's pathetic and I hate it, but it's not like I can do anything about it."

"When you put it that way, I'm surprised your mother let you join the Performing Arts club. From what I've heard so far, none of the things they do seem very lady like."

Shonali actually laughed at that. "Hey, just because you're never going to win a fight doesn't mean you still shouldn't try. Besides," her face softened and relaxed, "they're like a family to me, I would do anything to stay with them. Sometimes I feel like they're the only things keeping me from snapping and turning cold and distant like my sister did."

"This Rachel person that you spoke about earlier sounds nice. What do her parents thinks about all of this?"

"Honestly, they're the nicest people you will ever meet and they're okay with everything Rachel does but even if they weren't, they would have a heard time saying no to Rachel. Everyone has a hard time saying no to Rachel. Especially Jackson. He's as queer as a three dollar bill but for some reason, Rachel has always been his one weakness. He's such a moron, they've known each other for five years and he still doesn't have the guts to tell her he loves her." Shonali stood up and smoothed out the front of her purple dress, "Have you ever heard of someone so stupid?"

Hunny stood up with her, "Actually, yes I have. The idiots hiding behind the bush for example."

Shonali blinked and turned around, "What are you talking about? Which idiots?"

"Come on guys, I know you're there."

Haruhi was the first to stand up, followed by Kyoya, Mori, Tamaki and the twins.

"You see? I told you this was a dumb idea!" Haruhi said crossing her arms and looking away.

"Hunny-senpai, how did you know?"

Hunny's eyes narrowed before he said in a sweet little voice that completely didn't match the expression on his face, "How dumb do you think I am?" The entire Host Club, except for Kyoya and Mori, turned white, "That's the AB blood type in him coming out. How terrifying!"

"What's wrong with AB?" said Kyoya looked annoyed.

"Hmph, so says the dreaded Shadow King." Hikaru mumbled.

"Haruhiii, are you angry with me? I'm sorry I had to drag you into this!"

"Shut up senpai."

"MAMA! Haruhi's upset with me!"

"Quit calling me that."

They were interrupted by the sound of gentle laughter coming from in front of them. They looked and were left speechless when they saw Shonali laughing. It wasn't the same as before, Shonali's laughter was different now; it was now sweet, soft and melodious. It was beautiful, like the voice of one of those mystical creatures that lured sailors into the rocks and made them kill themselves. "I-I'm sorry," she said struggling a little for breath, "you guys are all s-so f-funny." She took a second to compose herself, before looking up and smiling at all of them. "You're all a lot like my friends. Would you like to meet them before they go on stage?"

"YES!" said the twins and Tamaki in unison and then they began talking all at once.

"Wow! The Preforming Arts Club!"

"That's so cool!"

"Too bad we don't have that at Ouran, I could play the piano!"

"Yeah, but Boss you're a terrible singer."

"Am not!"

"Yes you are Senpai."

"Haruhi! How could you say that!"

They began walking back inside.

"Takashi, come on let's hurry up, I want to meet Rachel!"

"Mm."

Music poured through the open doors:

_Some things look hard and then they're not  
Like getting on a tightrope and falling off  
But there's never been anything harder than loving her  
She's so demanding, so intense  
Her expectation of the ordinary is so immense  
Better take her at her word_

Kyoya sighed as he started after them, "Morons." He fell in step with Shonali, who smiled at him, "Yes, but they're _your _morons. Now my morons on the other hand, are an entirely different story."

___It would be easier to give up than live up to her  
Such ludicrous perfection isn't found on earth  
And for anyone who said that love was easy  
I said, for anyone who said that love was easy  
She's a piece of work_

As he held the door open for her, He looked down at her and he smiled, a half smile nonetheless, but it made Shonali smile back. Suddenly, he leaned in close, and she felt her heart skip a beat in shock as she felt Kyoya's lips move against the soft part of her ear, "You should smile like that more often. It suits you."

_____She's up and down, she's round the wheel  
She's governed absolutely by the way she feels  
That's a lethal combination in a small house when it rains  
We sit around, then it pours  
Me, I'm so addicted to the great indoors  
And she wants to shine again_

She leaned back and looked up at him. She noticed he had beautiful grey eyes, like thunder clouds. "And I'd say the same, for you, but unfortunately I haven't had the pleasure of seeing you smile. At least not one that counts." She brushed lightly past him to go inside, smiling coquettishly as she did. "Maybe I should teach you sometime."

_____She's the only person I have ever met  
Who makes me feel I haven't tried hard yet  
And for anyone who said that love was easy  
I said, for anyone who said that love was easy  
She's a piece of work_

Kyoya stood there for a moment, almost amazed she hadn't turned into a blushing, stuttering mess as most girls would have. Then he smirked as he followed her into the dancing crowd, the music getting louder and louder as they moved towards the source of it.

_____And for anyone who said that love was easy  
For anyone who said that love was easy  
She's a piece of work_  


_"Indeed she is."_

* * *

**Yay! I'm done chapter three! But honestly this wasn't that hard to write compared with how hard Chapter 4 is. I still haven't found the prefect songs to use! Although thanks to one of the reviewers who suggest the Ouran ipods thing, it gave me some ideas of what I wanted. Plus I'm still working on a character outline for some of the Preforming Arts Club Members, they're kind of hard to write about. Except for our mysterious Rachel figure of course. I can't WAIT to introduce her to you! Plus, we're also going to meet Shonali's sister and find out exactly what her relationship with Akito was. **

**Ooooo the suspense is terrible! *sighs dramtically and falls to the floor.***

**See you in two days!**

**As always please review!**

**Song: She's a Piece of Work by John Wesley Harding**


	4. Hot Mess

**Okay, so I know its been a week (or more) and I said "see you in two days" last time I updated, but the truth is I haven't really felt like updating lately because I feel like no one's reading this. I'm finished five chapter plus I'm working a special chapter for Valentine's day, but I'm debating about whether or not to post it here. I don't want to sound like a review whore, but please please review. I spend a lot of time writing and if I'm going to share it with people I'd like to know that they're reading it. It does have to be complicated, anything, even just a smiley face would be appreciated. :) **

**I need motivation people! So anyways, i hopw you enjoy this chapter. It's a lot longer than the previous chapters so you've been warned. It features three songs: **

** Bootylicious by Destiny's Child and a mash up of two songs of the same name: ****Hot Mess by Ashely Tisdale and ****Hot Mess by Cobra Starship.**

**Btw, I changed some of the lyrics on purpose. Also, be patient with me, I don't normally edit my work very carfully.**

**So now lets crank up itunes and enjoy!**

**p.s. I realized I forgot to do this: **

**Disclaimer: The Host Club is the property of the amazing Bisco Hatori and any songs used are the property of thier respective artists. Only the arts club member belong to me :)**

* * *

Backstage looked like it had been hit by a bomb. Ropes hung from the ceiling and dropped all the way to the floor, piles of cloth in assorted colors lay scattered all over the floors; silk, chiffon, lace, red, blue, lavender, gold, black. Makeshift tables were set up all over the place, covered with lipsticks, glitter, and draped in sparkling jewelry. It took awhile before you were able to walk a few feet without bumping into strange props, like the topless female mannequin Tamaki walked straight into.

People were rushing all over the place, some of them only half dressed, trying to frantically get their makeup on or their hair adjusted.

"Wow," said Karol, as a petite brunette, about Hunny's height, painted head to toe in gold body paint and stick on diamonds, rushed past, screaming that the stage lights were making her skin melt, "and I thought we did some crazy cosplay."

Shonali turned and looked at him over her shoulder as she moved a rack of clothing to the side so they could pass, "Cosplay?"

"Well, we were a Host Club."

"A host club? You mean like prostitutes?"

Everyone stopped. "Umm. No."

"A host club is where good looking guys with too much time on their hands, entertain young ladies who also have too much time on their hands." said Tamaki, sweat-dropping.

Shonali blinked, "Exactly. Prostitutes." She turned away again.

"Tousan!" A blur of blond rushed past the Host club and jumped onto Shonali's back.

She sighed, "Nani, kāasan?"

"Tu es censé être sur scène avec nous ... maintenant! quelle tragédie! Êtes-vous en colère contre moi ma chère? Était-ce quelque chose que j'ai fait? AHHHH! Gomen nasai tousan!"

"Rachel, you're choking me..."

The blonde, jumped off of Shona's back, and whirled her around. "So you're not mad at me? You've been acting strangely all day."

Shonali pried Rachel's hands off of her shoulders, "I'm fine." She spun Rachel around to face the Host Club, " But I'd like you to meet some people."

Rachel had ash blonde hair which hung in freshly done curls around her face, perfectly framing her baby blue eyes, full pink lips and pale smooth skin. She was a little bit shorter than Shona but it was hard to tell because of the black, Jimmy Choo pumps she wore. She was dressed in a gold and black lace backless dress with a heart shaped neckline and that reached to just the tops of her knees. She looked like a little porcelain doll. She smiled charmingly at everyone, "Oh aren't you the students from Japan?"

One by one everyone stepped forward to introduce themselves. "So," said Haruhi with a smile, "you're the infamous Rachel."

Rachel flipped her hair over her shoulder, "Oh, you've heard of me have you? Well, beauty like mine is sure to get around. No doubt you've heard of my kind heart, my giving nature, my- OW!" Shonali smacked her on the back of the head with a foam noodle that had been lying on the floor. "Only in your dreams sweetheart."

"Daddy! How could say something like that!"

"Would you stop calling me that! We're not kids any more, and this isn't one of those dumb games of _'house'_ that you would drag me into."

"Well, this is eerie." said Hikaru, putting his hands into his pockets and looking around.

"Mmhmm." said Mori.

"Shona! Why aren't you dressed yet!" came a high pitched falsetto voice. A boy with brown hair that had streaks of blue in it came running towards them. He had on a black dress shirt with a golden tie, black dress pants and black Oxford shoes. Another boy with brown hair but that had streaks of pink in it followed behind, similarly dressed.

The Host club stared at them, while the blue streaked boy began to fuss over Shonali. Haruhi was the first to speak, "Jackson, you're a twin?"

The pink haired boy turned away from his brother and smiled at Haruhi. "Yup. Meet my less handsome, far less charming brother, Jason."

The boy with the blue highlights, waved his hands dismissively, "Yes, yes there will be plenty of time for all of that later, but right now _you_," he pointed at Shona, "need to go and get dressed. We're on in fifteen minutes."

Shonali groaned as Jason began dragging her away, "It's not like it matters, all I have to do is sing background, no one will miss me if I'm not up there. I don't wanna go!"

Rachel laughed nervously. Shonali turned back to look at Rachel as she was being slowly dragged away. No, '_look'_ is too weak of a word, it was more like a death glare. "Rachel, What. Did. You. Do." she spoke through clenched teeth as she stared at Rachel through narrowed eyes. Jackson went beside Jason, who was having trouble taking Shonali away and grabbed her other arm and helped him drag her along, as Rachel called after them in a small voice, "You might be singing a duet with Jackson..."

"What? Hell no. Let me go, I'll kill her!"

"It's just a small piece Shona, no big deal!" Rachel called desperately.

Shonali's answer was drowned out by the sudden increased pitch of the crowd on the other side of the stage but not before a few choice curse words slipped out and reached their ears. Rachel cringed, "That girl has the mouth of a sailor." She looked at Haruhi who was standing beside her, "Do you think I did a bad thing? It's just I thought it would be good for her to finally be able to show people what she's capable of, instead of hiding in the background because of...well, some issues."

"I don't think I'd be a very good judge of that, but maybe you should've let her work things out for herself." Haruhi replied looking up at older girl. Rachel bit her lip before shrugging, "Oh well, too late now." Then she smiled at everyone, "You're staying for the show right? Come on, I'll show the best place to watch. I mean after all, you'll need a good view of me."

"Amazing it's like looking in a mirror." said the twins in unison.

* * *

The crowd had reached a fevered pitch and were screaming for more, by the time the Host Club found a place to stand in one of the balcony boxes that overhung the the open area below.

"Hey look they even have a programme," Haruhi picked up the crumpled paper that was lying on the floor, "Lets see, Eternal Vortex, Theater of the Mind...ah here they are the McKinnley High Preforming Arts Club."

It showed a picture of each of the main members along with a short description of them. Everyone looked over her shoulder as she read aloud, running down the list of people.

The first picture was of Rachel, smiling brightly at the camera. "Rachel Beaumont: President of PAC, Head of Acting Department, Female Lead."

"Wow. They have different divisions of the Club?" said Kaoru looking impressed.

"Well performing arts does cover a wide variety of things, so it's only natural I suppose." Kyoya answered back.

The next picture was of a well built boy, with spikey brown hair, and dark brown eyes. He was fairly attractive and you could tell immediately that he was the jock type. He wore a slightly confused, but charming, expression on his face. "Matt Rhodes: Male lead, Captain of the Football Team"

"Rhodes...doesn't his family own over twelve different sports teams?"

"Yup. That's the one."

The third picture was of Shonali, a sexy, arrogant smirk on her face, the epitome of confidence. He hair was in a high pony tail and pulled away from her face and she seemed to be wearing a school uniform. "Shonali Johari: Vice president of PAC, Head of Dance Department, Head Cheerleader"

"Wow, cheerleaders? Those girls that run around in short skirts at football games?" asked Hunny

"Yeah." said Tamaki, "We used have them in my school in France."

"Man, I wish we had a couple of them at Ouran." said Hikaru under his breath, earning an elbow in the ribs from his brother.

The next picture was of Jackson, but with purple streaks in his hair, cheekily sticking his tongue out. "Jackson Cooper: PAC Head of Music Department, Male Lead understudy"

"So generally the male and female leads are always together right?" asked Kaoru.

"Yeah, for the most part." said Tamaki

"Ouch. Poor guy." said Hikaru.

"What do you mean?" asked Haruhi.

"Well think about it Haru-chan, he likes Ray-chan right? Having to watch her dance and sing with another guy must be hard." said Hunny.

"Yeah, but he likes guys too. Maybe he likes Matt." said Kaoru.

Hunny blinked. "That sucks."

Everyone sweat-dropped. They hadn't even been there for a month and the little blonde lolita was already talking like an American teenager.

The picture under Jackson's was of his twin, Jason with the blue streaks. He had a giant grin on his face and was winking at the camera. "Jason Cooper: Head of Fashion Department."

"What do you wanna bet the camera guy was cute." said Hikaru chuckling.

The following picture was of an olive skinned Italian girl, with the most amazing green eyes. Her head was covered with a floppy, black sunhat that had a sunflower stuck to the side. She wasn't looking at the camera, but off to the side, laughing at something she saw, leaning back slightly.

"Delilah Lopez: Head of Administration, Cheerleader."

"I'm familiar with her family. They work in the health care industry too." said Kyoya, examining the picture.

"Wasn't she the girl who Renge and her father went to visit last month?" asked Tamaki.

"I don't recall, but I wouldn't be surprised. Hoshikuji-san tends to work with all the medical families."

There was only one more picture, it was of a blue eyed, red head who stuck out her tongue in a very Kiss-esque way. The words "rock on" were visible on the top of her t-shirt. She wore black vanity glasses. "Caroline Fitzgerald: Head of Video Design" At the very bottom of the page it read, "Currently the Preforming Arts club has over 300 members, working under each separate department."

Tamaki let out a low whistle, "Huh, they're really big aren't they? It's impressive." He paused a minute, "It would be nice to have something like this at Ouran..." Haruhi stepped on his foot, making him wince in pain, "The host club's bad enough, I don't think we need more trouble with an arts club too.

"Hey look, I think they're about to come on!" said Hunny excitedly. The previous act had just played their final note. All of a sudden, the stage went black. Then, out of the darkness came three female voice, low and seductive: _"Carrie, can you handle this? Lilah, can you handle this? Rachel , can you handle this? I don't think they can handle this!"_

Suddenly the stage exploded into a series of colors and Rachel and two other girls strutted out onto the stage all wearing the same gold and black lace dress. The second girl, Delilah, had short, chocolate brown pixie cut hair and even from a distance the Host club could see her beautiful, evergreen eyes, exactly the same shade as in her picture. She was curvier than Rachel and was more like Shonali with the same olive skin and fantastic build, except she was about a head taller. The third girl, Caroline, was easily the shortest of the bunch but more than made up for it with her mop of firey red hair which seemed to flame on stage and perfectly matched the red lipstick she wore.

_"Barely move, we've arrived, lookin sexy, lookin fly. Baddest chick, chick inside, DJ, jam tonight, s__potted me a tender thang, there you are, come on baby, don't you wanna dance with me? __Can you handle, handle me?"_

Dancers, dressed in baggy sweatpants, tightly fitted black shirts and gold high tops came out and joined the three girls as the music got louder.

_"You gotta do much better if you gone dance with me tonight. You gotta work your jelly if you gone dance with me tonight. Read my lips carefully if you like what you see. Move, groove, prove you can hang with me. By the looks I got you shook up and scared of me, hook up your seatbelt, it's time for takeoff."_

The crowd was loving every minute of it, they had reached level of noise that made the racket they had previously raised up look tame in comparison.

Hunny turned to Tamaki, whose mouth was handing slightly open, "WOW, they're really good! And look at the dancers! Shona-chan choreographed the entire show! Isn't it amazing Tama-chan?"

"Gah.."

_"I don't think you ready for this jelly. I don't think you ready for this jelly. I don't think you ready for this, cause my body too bootylicious for ya babe. I don't think you ready for this jelly. I don't think you ready for this jelly. I don't think you ready for this, cause my body too bootylicious for ya babe."_

_Baby, can you handle this? Baby, can you handle this? Baby, can you handle this? I don't think you can handle this!"_

_As they sang, they danced in front of the mikes, showing off and flaunting each part of their bodies, shooting smoldering smiles at the crowd. By now all the guys were drooling all over the floor._

_"I'm about to break you off, H-town goin hard. Lead my hips, slap my thighs, swing my hair, square my eyes. Lookin hot, smellin good, groovin like I'm from the hood. Look over my shoulder, I blow you a kiss. Can you handle, handle this?"_

Rachel made a _"come on"_ motion with her finger, as she rubbed up against one of the male dancers with swoopy brown bangs that fell into his face and belted out the next lines,

_"I don't think you ready for this jelly. I don't think you ready for this jelly. I don't think you ready for this, cause my body too bootylicious for ya babe. I don't think you ready for this jelly. I don't think you ready for this jelly. I don't think you ready for this, cause my body too bootylicious for ya babe._

Delilah joined her on the next line, "_Is my vibe too vibealacious for you, babe?"_ Caroline came in too, as the music picked up pace and the dancers all gyrated and picked up pace.

_"I shake my jelly at every chance, when I whip with my hips you slip into a trance. I'm hoping you can handle all this jelly that I have, now let's cut a rug while we scat some jazz._

_I don't think you ready for this jelly. I don't think you ready for this jelly. I don't think you ready for this, cause my body too bootylicious for ya babe."_

The preformers on stage struck their final pose and the stage when black again as the pulsing lights stopped and the music faded.

When the lights came back on, a couple of guys were already positioned behind a drumset and guitars, the stage looking, barer than it had for the previous performance. Just a couple tall speakers here and there and some sparkling glitter left over from other acts. Three blonde haired girls stood behind microphones placed beside the band. The back up singers.

There was a pause of about five seconds and then the music started, the guitarist leading and the bass and drummer slowly joining in, playing soft unsure notes with an undercurrent of something that could only be described as locked up desire. It was Jackson's handiwork, the man was a musical mad man. Shona slowly walked out from among the red curtains on the side of the stage began to sing. _"I'm a mess when it comes to you, I've got no inhibitions whatsoever, it's true. I'm not the kind of girl who runs around like this caught up in a kiss, best friends with benefits, no..."_

This wasn't like the previous performance, which had been chock full of sexy confidence. The song Rachel and picked for Shonali seemed to be of confusion, of not knowing what you wanted. or what to do with all the passion locked up inside. It was perfect. She looked a little nervous at first, but it only added to the performance, her tone perfectly matched the unsure nature of the music. But slowly a small coy smile graced her face and she stopped her walk across the stage to casually flirt with a guitar player by playing with his tie and pulling him close, _"But you're so racy, you're my favorite guy. So unruly, so uncivilized,"_ The music changed with her, becoming more confident and playful. Her voice became a little more powerful as she placed the microphone in its stand directly facing the crowd, "Cupid got me right between my eyes. You know you got me real bad, doing things that you never did."

And that's when all hell broke loose.

_"Oh oh, woah, oh! Oh oh, woah, oh!"_

_"You wake up in your bra and your makeup!"_ Her hair seemed to literally explode out of the messy bun that Jason had done on her head. She teased the screaming crowd as she continued to sing, by running her fingers through it, and moving her hips suggestively,_ "Oh oh, woah, oh! Oh oh, woah, oh, car in the driveway, parked sideways! Yeah, I know this is killing me I'm leaving every piece of my conscience behind."_ She looked pretty good up there, really sexy. _"Oh oh, woah, oh, oh oh, woah, oh I'm such a hot mess, I'm such a hot mess, I'm such a hot mess with you..."_

That's when Jackson himself came out through the other side of the stage, **_"You were a problem child, been grounded your whole life, so now you runnin' wild. Playin' with them good girls, no that ain't your style."_** Shonali grabbed the microphone out of the stand again and smiled at him flirtatiously, cocking an eyebrow seeming to say _"oh really"_ as he continued, "**_You think you're hot shit and I love it. I love it yeah, yeah."_**

He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close so that her back was pressed against him, earning a small laugh from her. They both seemed to completely relax around each other. **_"Stumblin' but yeah you still lookin hella fine, keep doin' what your doin' and I'm a make you mine."_** He whirled her away from him as he sang the chorus, _**"Well you're a hot mess and I'm fallin' for you and I'm like hot damn, lemme make you my boo. 'Cuz you can shake it, shake it, shake it. Yeah you know what to do."**_

_"Yeah I know what to do."_ Shonali sang back, wrapping and arm around his neck and pretending to kiss him.

**_"You're a hot mess, I'm lovin' it hell yes!"_**

_"With you, I never knew, loving you could be so fun. It's true, I was such a good, good girl before you came along. But you're so racy, you're my favorite guy._ She ran her hands sensually down her body, before reaching across and grabbing Jackson's loosened tie to pull him closer so her, so she could croon the words in his ear, _"So unruly, so uncivilized. Cupid got me right between my eyes, you know you got me real bad, doing things that you never did." _She pushed him away again, _"Oh oh, woah, oh, oh oh, woah, oh, you wake up in your bra and your makeup!"_ She walked behind him, pulling his tie completely off and tossing it off stage. _"Oh oh, woah, oh, oh oh, woah, oh, car in the driveway, parked sideways. Yeah, I know this is killing me, I'm leaving every piece of my conscience behind."_ She had her back against his side and slowly moved her body down, pressing it against him. _"Oh oh, woah, oh, oh oh, woah, oh, I'm such a hot mess, I'm such a hot mess, I'm such a hot mess with you."_

Jackson grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up, causing her skirt to flare up briefly to a little over mid thigh, setting her down on a speaker, **_"Got me hypnotized, the city's your play ground. I watch you take a bite, at 5 a.m. roamin' the streets, drunk all night. You think you're hot shit and oh I love it. I love it yeah yeah."_** He ran hand up one of her prefect, toned legs, which she smacked away as she covered her mouth in a dainty fashion, playing the good girl shocked by his forwardness. **_"Stumblin' but yeah you still lookin' hella fine, keep doin' what your doin' and I'ma make you you're a hot mess and I'm fallin' for you and I'm like hot damn, lemme make you my boo. 'Cuz you can shake it, shake it, shake it, yeah you know what to do. You're a hot mess, I'm lovin' it hell yes!"_**

Now Shona spun around on the speaker so that she lay on her stomach, propped up on her elbows, her legs bent at the knees, and pointing upward. _"I'm getting speeding tickets, I'm acting just like a misfit. I'm letting my mail pile up to the ceiling, you're making me irresponsible 'cause I just wanna be with you, act a little naughty and see what I do."_ She turned over and hopped off the speaker, singing directly at the crowd now. _"Go hard, hit that gas, living life like it's all you have. Push, push hard and make it last. All this love is worth the mess, hot mess. Oh oh, woah, oh, oh oh, woah, oh. You wake up in your bra and your makeup. Oh oh, woah, oh, oh oh, woah, oh, car in the driveway, parked sideways. Yeah, I know this is killing me, I'm leaving every piece of my conscience sweetheart. Oh oh, woah, oh, oh oh, woah, oh, I'm such a hot mess, I'm such a hot mess, I'm such a hot mess with you!"_

Shona completely abandoned her microphone, and grabbed the extra guitar lying propped up beside the speakers and joined the other two guitarists playing behind Jackson's part**_."If you're dancin' up on tables you go, you go, you got it girl, say that you're unstable you go, go go, you got it girl. Dancin' up on tables, say that your unstable." _**Shona and Jackson leaned shoulder to shoulder at the forefront of the stage, seeming to be completely lost in the energy of the roaring crowd, which was singing along with them. _**"You're a ha-ha-ha-ha-hot, yeah you're a hot mess! Ha-ha-ha-ha-hot, we're sayin' hell yes! Well you're a hot mess and I'm fallin' for you and I'm like hot damn, lemme make you my boo.'Cuz you can shake it, shake it, shake it, yeah you know what to do. You're a hot mess, I'm lovin' it hell yes!"**_

Shona joined in on Jackson's part, _"I'm a hot mess and I'm falling for you, and I'm like "hot damn, lemme make you my boo. Cuz' I can shake it, shake it, shake it, yeah I know what to do. I'm a hot mess. I'm lovin' it, hell yes!"_

_**"Hell yes!"**_

_"Hot mess"_

_**"I'm lovin' it hell yes!"**_

_"Hell yes!_"

**_"Hot mess"_**

_"I'm lovin' it, HELL YES!"_

Shona and the two guitarists finished the song with last one ear spiltting note as Jackson over the screaming crowd, to enjoy the rest of the night.

* * *

The preformances went on for another half an hour and included some flawlessly choregraphed dances by Shonali, simultaneously showing off the amazing creative skill Jason had for costume design, including twelve girls dressed in nothing more but gold body paint and fake diamonds glued to their skin. The gold body pain, thankfully, did not melt this time. There were two more performances from Rachel, a song sung solely by Delilah (just her, a guitar and a tall stool placed in front of the microphone, and a strong finish from the boy named Matt who sang an irresistible version of Justin Timberlake's Lovestoned. A couple of female (and male) panties found their way on stage at that point.

The Host Club was walking back to the backstage area, chatting about the show and in Haruhi's case, the lateness of the hour. "I thought we were only going to stay a couple hours," she complained, "I have an essay due tomorrow!"

Hikaru and Kaoru smirked at each other and crept up on either side of her, "but Haruhi, didn't you enjoy this evening, especially that last performance." They voices were think with innuendo.

Haruhi, turned her face to hide her blush, grateful for the dim lighting. "Stop that you two," said Kyoya who walked beside Mori, "You'll set Tamaki off on one of his little rants" Kaoru looked back at Mori, who had Tamaki flung over his shoulder, and shrugged, "He's too far gone. I think that last performance was enough to knock him out for the rest of the evening. The culture shock was clearly too much."

"Hey, I just noticed, where's Hunny-senpai?" Haruhi stopped walking and looked around as Kyoya and Mori caught up. Kyoya put his hands gently on her shoulders, nudging her forward again, a slight smirk finding its way onto his face, "Oh, he went to show one of those dancers his bunny tattoo. Which one was it again...ah yes, the one painted in gold with the fake diamonds over her-well you know."

A voice called out to them just as they reached the exit. 'Hey you guys, wait up!" A disheveled looking Rachel was running up to them. She had changed out of her last costume and into sweatpants and a large turquoise hooded sweater that completely masked her small frame.

She grinned at them, looking tired but entirely happy "Did you have fun?"

"You do realize, that's completely the wrong question to be asking right now, don't you Rachel?" Shonali was standing behind her, dressed in sneakers, jeans and a purple sweater similar to Rachel's, arms crossed. Behind her stood Jason, Jackson and a group of dancers, all changed out of their costumes too.

You could practically see the alarm jog across Rachel's face, "Look Shona- I-I can explain, I just wanted to-to-"

"Rachel."

"Eeep!" Rachel shrank bank and little as Shona uncrossed her arms, looking gravely serious, but then she suddenly smiled and ran forward to hug the blond. "I had fun."

"Wait, you're not mad at me?" came Rachel's muffled voice. "Yes, I'm mad. But I'm angry because you didn't respect me enough to realize that some choices I make are non negotiable. That they're my business and no one else's. You know how I feel about being on stage with you guys and I know you only want what you think is best for me but I also have to think about what my family wants from me. I just need you to understand that." Rachel sighed it defeat as she hugged Shona back. She pulled away for a second, "You realize if my mom finds out about this, it's all on your head right?"

Rachel sighed, "Ah the things I do for you." They both smiled and held on to each other tightly. Everyone else busied themselves with talk about the show and how amazing it had been, what great singers Rachel, Matt, Shonali, Jackson and the rest of the Club were and how much they loved everything, complementing each other on the turnout of all their hard work. The Host Club called cabs to get home.

No one heard the small "thank you" Shona whispered in Rachel's ear, or the "I love you" Rachel whispered back or saw the tears that fell from hazel eyes into a seeming ocean of golden hair, or felt cold iron chains wrap themselves back around their throats.

* * *

**Okay, are you ready? Go review!**

**ps: this fic only started out slow, we're going to steamroll right ahead in the next few chapters and before you know it, i'll be done :) I apologize if you're getting bored.**

**Ohh and on another unrelated note, I recently watched this documentary about a real Host Club. I think it was called the Great Happiness Space. Has anyone else seen it? If you have, lemme know what you thought of it. (I thought it was amazing, and it will forever change the way I watch Ouran.)**


	5. Magic

**Ouran, doesn't belong to me, blah,blah,blah annndddd enjoy ;)**

**(Sorry for all the spellling and grammar mistakes again. I really should work on that)**

* * *

Class wasn't supposed to start for another hour but Kyoya slid into his usual seat early. The twins had snuck into his room at some point and set his alarm an hour back. Not that it mattered anymore, the thing was lying smashed to pieces on the floor since he had thrown it against the wall. He supposed it was things like this, that had earned him the title of Hypotensive Demon Lord. He buried his head in his arms, looking sideways at the spot where Tamaki usually sat, grateful that the exuberant blonde wasn't there yet. He needed a few more minutes of quiet. Tamaki had probably been up since six that morning even though they hadn't gotten back to their apartments until almost midnight and probably hadn't fallen asleep until well after that. Especially not Tamaki and Haruhi. Ugh, somethings were just not meant to be heard and that had been one of them. Who knew Haruhi had it in her. Of course, while it had disgusted him, for a moment there had been a brief feeling of something else. A pang in his heart. Loneliness perhaps? For half an instant he had wondered what it would be like to kiss someone, to hold them, to wake up with a soft warm body in your arms, to love. But the thought had quickly passed as he drifted off to sleep. His duty was to his family. Marry someone rich, successful and beautiful. Love didn't factor into the equation. If he wanted to impress his father, he had to marry for merit. It was what was expected of him. What he expected of himself.

"Hmm, I guess you're not a morning person are you? Oh well, that's too bad."

Kyoya looked up to see Shonali standing there dressed in tight, black skinny jeans, sliver ballet flats, a loose fitting gray t shirt with a circular neckline, black leather jacket and a soft wool, black beret placed over her raven hair. She wore maroon mittens on her hands, one of which held a coffee from Starbucks. She gazed down at him, amusement sparkling in her hazel eyes.

He glared at her from between his arms, too tired to tell her to go away.

"Aw, Kyo-chan don't look at me that way." She said faking a pout and talking to him in Japanese. "Takes more muscles to frown than to smile after all. So turn that frown upside down!" She hopped up onto the desk, sitting to his right. "What're you doing here so early anyway?"

Kyoya groaned, sensing she wasn't about to leave anytime soon because she took some kind of sick pleasure in his suffering. He answered in monosyllables. "Twins. Clock."

He turned his head to look at her out of the corner of his eye and saw she had an adorably confused expression on her face. She saw him looking her and smiled that smile again. The one that reached her pretty eyes. "I can't even pretend that made sense. Clearly, being sleep deprived has addled you brains." She got off the desk, "Which is why, I have the prefect solution."

"What?" came his gruff voice from between his arms. Shona laughed slightly, "Come on get up." She went around and tugged at his sleeve, poking and prodding him until he was finally annoyed enough to raise his head and get up. "You are incredibly irritating you know." She took his arm in her free one, "You'll thank me later."

They walked out of the room and into the hallway. "Where are we going?" he asked in a tired voice, being half dragged along. She shook her head handing him her coffee instead of answering, "Drink this, you need it more than me." He looked at it, "I don't like sweet things and this will undoubtedly have a lot of sugar in it." Shonali stopped walking and looked at him, "Just drink it." He raised an eyebrow but took a hesitant sip only to discover it had an unusual flavor. Not sugary, but something else...something sweet and spicy at the same time. He drank some more.

"It's cinnamon." said Shonali, answering his unasked question as they walked forward, "My dad always used to make coffee that way and I guess I just developed a taste for it. She led him to a set of stairs at the end of the hallway and they began climbing up." He looked at her. "I'm sorry about your father. He died after my mother, but I knew they were good friends. She spoke of him often."

"Thanks for saying that." She gave him a small smile as they reached a door at the top of the flight of stairs then she ordered him to close his eyes.

"Why?"

"You'll see."

He did as she said as she opened the door. He felt a fresh breeze waft across his face, bringing a floral smell with it, mixing with the cinnamon of the coffee. She led him out the door and they walked for a few more steps.

"Okay, open."

He opened his eyes and looked around. They were on the school's rooftop, except it looked like a garden. Flowers of every variety grew there, and in every color. There were so many types and planted without any rhyme or rhythm but they all blended together in perfect balance and harmony. Vines crept out of the growth and down the side of the white marble of the building.

"This is what you dragged me up here to show me?"

"Isn't it beautiful?" said Shonali happily. "Delilah takes care of it. Although, she tries to keep it a secret from everybody, especially her parents. Her parents think gardening is for dirty peasants or something. Dirt scares the hell out of them."

She looked sideways at Kyoya, "But, that's not why I brought you here. Actually, as beautiful as all of this is, there's something even better. She led him to the edge of the building and pointed straight across."

"I don't see anything."

She laughed, "You're hopeless. The sunrise Kyoya, look at the sunrise.'

"And why are we looking at the sunrise?"

Are you tired?" she asked, still looking straight ahead at the skies.

"Excuse me?" he asked, a little confused.

"Are you tired?"

He thought about it for a second and then realized with a start that he wasn't at all tired anymore. In fact, he had never felt so awake.

"No..."

She gave a small smile at the quiet surprise in his voice. "Then my plan worked. I told you I had to solution for tiredness. When I was younger my family and I used to do this all the time, get some hot chocolate, climb up onto the rooftop and watch the sunrise. My sister and I were practically impossible to deal with in the mornings, so my grandmother started this little tradition, and I've been doing it ever since then. I've never been tired in the mornings anymore. It's magic."

Kyoya rolled his eyes. "Magic? Really, Joharisan?"

"Okay, firstly," she said turning towards him, "Just call me Shona, second, yes it is magic and third, we still have an hour to kill before class starts, might as well use the time wisely, sleeping on desks has no value."

"Well then Miss Shona," he said feigning seriousness, "would you mind telling me, what merit watching the sunrise holds over sleeping in?"

He looked down at, an amused smirk playing around his lips, curious as to what her answer might be. But when she looked up at him, he was surprised to see her face set in complete certainty, no trace of joking in her soft, hazel eyes, "Beauty has a merit all of its own."

She smiled then, and pulled him closer to the edge. The sky was still painted in colors of red and orange even though it was half past seven. The quiet of the morning was absolute and unpunctuated by the usual sounds of city life. She let out a wistful sigh and she leaned forward against the railing, "How beautiful. Don't you think so?"

He realized then that they had been speaking Japanese the entire time.

"Shona-san, just how many languages do you know?" he asked curiously.

She looked over her shoulder at him thoughtfully and shrugged, "Ummmm six give or take."

He faced forward again, looking at the sky, "That's impressive."

"Yeah well, when you've been around as may places as I have, you pick up a few things." She paused, "So, what about you? I just realized I know next to nothing about you."

"Well, what do you want to know?"

She though about it for a second, before looking up at him, and putting her hands on his shoulders, looking him straight in the eyes, "Okay, this is a very important question, so listen very carefully. Why is it that people say they "slept like a baby" when babies wake up like every two hours?"

He burst out laughing, "I'm sorry, but what?

She shook her head, "Hey I'm being completely serious here. And what about if a deaf person has to go to court, is it still called a hearing? Also, why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?"

He shook his head, a confused half smile tugging at the corners of his lips as she talked, "I just don't understand you half the time."

She looked like she was trying hard not to smile, trying her best to maintain her air of gravity, "Well, I thought you supposed to be the smart one and maybe you could answer my questions. They are very important questions after all. How else am I supposed to get to know you? By asking normal, boring questions? " She looked down for a second, and then back up at him, hazel eyes meeting grey, "Our parents were best friends, do you think we could be friends too?"

He looked down at her in surprise. He had been talking to her all of but half an hour and he was already having to run after her to catch up with her thoughts, which flitted around like flighty butterflies.

"Well I don't really like throwing that word around," he paused looking away at the brightening skies, "but I suppose I could make an exception."

They stood for awhile in comfortable silence and then, "Hey Kyoyakun,"

"Hmm?"

"What do you call a male ladybug?"

* * *

Awhile later, it was time for class.

"Hey, have you seen Kyoya?' asked Tamaki, shifting in his seat to look at the twins.

They grinned, "Nope..."

Tamaki looked at them suspiciously, "What did you do?" But before they could saying anything, Mori interrupted, "There he is."

Everyone looked up to see Kyoya and Shonali walking in together, talking. They couldn't really hear what they were talking about but a few words like, Haruhi, girl and cross dressing, drifted over. Shonali was laughing, "Wow. I mean there was that one time we dressed Jackson up like a drag queen but what you guys did is just insane. You went to all that trouble to hide her?"

"Ah, but one man's insanity is another's genius."

"Hey!" she said lightly smacking him on the arm, "Don't use my own words against me!"

Haruhi looked up at them as they approached, "Well you two seem to be having a good time." They looked around at her, seeming almost startled.

"Hi Haruhi!" Another voice piped up. Haruhi looked past Shonali and Kyoya and saw Rachel and the pixie haired girl, Delilah, walking towards them. "Shona, coach said we have practice later today, so you might want to tell the other girls. I bumped into her outside, so..." Delilah looked almost nervous for some reason. Shonali rolled her eyes, "Oh sure, the girl can sing in front of hundreds, but put her in front of a few new people and she freezes." She grabbed Delilah's left arm and turned her to face everyone, "This is Delilah you guys. Lilah, meet Kyoya, Tamaki, Haruhi, Hikaru and Kaoru, Mori and...where's Hunny?"

Hikaru coughed. It sounded suspiciously like _"hangover."_

"Uhhhh... lets just say he's not feeling well."

Rachel laughed, grabbing the chair in the row in front of Tamaki. "You mean he got completely wasted last night. I saw him with like five of our dancers, talking about some bunny tattoo he had."

Shonali blinked. "Wow, I didn't know the little guy had it in him." As she spoke, she took her seat beside Rachel, taking off her mittens and beret, fixing her hair into a high ponytail. A group of guys watched in interest, and one of them, a blonde, came over to talk to her.

Delilah smiled shyly at them before flitting into her seat as Kyoya and the twins took theirs too.

A few minuted later, the bell rang and it was time for class. Just before the professor walked in, Rachel twisted in her seat to look at the host club and whispered, "Meet us in Music room 6 after school."

* * *

"I don't know... I feel like my breasts look weird in this."

"Darling, you look fabulous. Very...pert."

"Mm...are you sure? I just feel... fat in this y'know. I don't think this is the best outfit for me."

"Honeychild, are you out of your mind? Have I ever lied to you before. Trust me you look great! Almost makes me wish I was straight."

_"Really?_"

"Let's not get over exited, I said _almost."_

There was a soft fit of giggling and then.

"Here let me fix that for you. You're top looks a little too tight."

"Actually, I think in this case, tight is good."

"Okay, you're right. It works on you."

The Host Club started at the little changing room in confusion. It had a little "girls" sign over it, but where was there a guy's voice and a girl's voice coming out of it.

"Are they in there, _together?_" asked Tamaki, looking horror stricken, right before the redhead, Caroline and Jason emerged laughing about something or other. He was wearing a white shirt with the top buttons hanging open, jeans and had a measuring tape hanging around his neck. She was wearing a sparkling lime green top which had half sleeves, a v neck that cut off just under her ribs. She had on a similarly intricately bejeweled flowing chiffon skirt that ran like water down her legs to the tips of her ankles. The top layer of the skirt was a shear green color to match her top and the under layer was a pale blue. Her lips were painted bright red and her eyes layered with mascara which dramatically widened her blue eyes. Her red hair was tied back into a bun and was almost hidden by the flowing head covering she wore, a combination of the green and blue on her top and skirt, which hung down her back , reaching to just above mid thigh. A silver, diamond shaped jewel was placed in the center of her forehead.

Jason smiled as they walked towards the Host Club, "Oh hello again! I'm sorry I don't think we were properly introduced last night. I'm Jason and - oh. my. god. You're the Hitachiin brothers right?" His mouth hung slightly open as he stared at Hikaru and Kaoru. A few minutes later, anyone would've sworn an explosion had been set off, "OH MY GOD! I absolutely adore your mother. She is a genius! Those dresses the girls were wearing yesterday were completely inspired by one of her newest lines. Would you tell that I love her? Actually no, could you get me her autograph? Oh this is SO exciting. You're practically like royalty! You-"

He was cut off when a pillow suddenly hit him on the side of his head, accompanied by an angry grumbling. Jason rubbed his head, looking to the side where the pillow had flown from, "Hey, what that for Jackson?" They all looked over to the couch, where it had previously looked like a pile of blanket was lying, but then an angry, red eyed face appeared. "Shut up." It hissed.

"Awwwww... did baby not get enough sleep?" came a teasing voice from the back of the room.

"Nope. Baby had a date and didn't get home until 4 in the morning."

"Oh, you mean that cute black haired guy?"

"Yeah. I think he's the Italian foreign exchange student's brother or something."

"Wait, the brother who has a crush on Shona?"

"Dammit, why do all the good looking ones have to be gay?"

They turned and saw Rachel, Matt and Delilah coming towards them. Rachel and Delilah were both dressed similarly to Caroline, except Rachel wore pink and red and Delilah wore yellow and blue. Matt had on a long stiff shirt with a pulled up collar that reached to mid thigh and loose pants on underneath. His entire outfit was a creamy beige color, expect for the bright red scarf he had hung around his neck. Rachel bounced forward the minute she saw them with Jason and Caroline, her skirt flying up and showing off her legs. Her sliver anklets jingled like little bells, and thats when they noticed everyone was barefoot. "Hey you guys made it!" She looked back at Jackson who was being helped out of the tangled of blankets by Delilah, "Sorry about him. He's not usually like this..." Jackson came up behind her rubbing his eyes, hair disheveled. Haruhi choked back a laugh, "Wow, Jackson, that's an interesting look. Is that your costume?"

Everyone look at him and tried to bite back their laughter too. Jackson looked around at them confused, "What?"

Rachel bit her lip, "Nothing, nothing." She patted him on the back, "Go get changed, practice starts in five." They watched him walk into the dressing room and shut the door, before Caroline whispered, "Not that I'm complaining, but who drew the Hitler mustache on him?"

Hikaru smirked, "Well I thought it was a great look for him." Haruhi was stifling her laughter by covering her mouth, her cheeks turing steadily pinker and pinker.

Rachel shook her head at Caroline, "Care, there's no need to lie. We all know you did it." Caroline held up her hands defensively, "Hey it wasn't me! I was with Jason the entire time."

"Speaking of which, why were you in the changing room together?" asked Hikaru turning towards Caroline, who looked at him and smiled mischievously before running to put her arms around him, "Why are you jealous? Did you want to come in with me next time?"

To everyone's surprise Hikaru actually blushed a little. Jason pried Caroline off of him. "Well, I do make all the outfits after all and its not like I'm attracted to her kind. Now if Matt were in there with me..."

_"Another flaming homosexual?"_ Kaoru wondered as he watched his brother turn his face away to hid his pink cheeks.

Delilah wandered shyly forward and addressed Haruhi, "So are you guys staying to watch rehearsals?" Haruhi looked up at her smiling kindly, "Yeah, I guess so. I really like the stuff you did yesterday, and judging from your outfits, I definitely want to see what you guys are up to today." Delilah fingered the fabric of her skirt and smiled slightly at the shorter girl, "Yeah, we're doing Bollywood. It's for the Cultural Fair. Last year, we did a lot of line dancing and Cowboy stuff for Rachel because she's from Texas but this year Rachel decided we would do Shonali's cultural stuff. Although, she is mixed Italian and Indian so it was hard to decide-" She stumbled to a stop as she realized the rest of the Host Club was listening. She turned red and resumed looking down at the floor. Haruhi pressed forward, trying to make the girl feel more at ease, "Well your outfits are really pretty. I'm kind of jealous." She laughed sweetly.

"Really Haruhi?" Tamaki squealed, jumping in. "Daddy would love for you to wear something like that, just imagine how pretty you would look!" He stopped and had a dazed expression on his face, clearly picturing Haruhi in one of those outfits. Haruhi rolled her eyes and turned, surprised, when she heard Delilah's soft laughter. She seemed to gain a little more confidence, "Well actually, we have a whole bunch of extras from the other dancers and I'm sure we could give you one after we're done the Cultural Fair. Right Rachel?"

Rachel looked around from scolding Caroline, who was still pressed up against a tomato red Hikaru, and smiled, "Sure no problem."

Delilah looked at Haruhi excitedly, "So after rehearsal, we can try on a bunch of dresses and then maybe we could go to the mall together?" She looked at Haruhi, unsure of what she'd say and then backtracked a little, "Unless of course, you have something else to do in which case..."

"No, no, that sounds like fun!" Haruhi said smiling up at the bigger girl and Tamaki's eyes swam with tears of happiness in the background. "My Haruhi made a friend!"

Jackson came out of the dressing room, looking slightly less messy, wearing the same thing as Matt but with a pink scarf. He still had the Hitler mustache. "Hey Shona, would you hand me that water bottle over there?"

Shonali had walked into the room while everyone else was busy talking. She was the only one not wearing an outfit like the other girls. She had on a plain black tank top that only reached to the top of her ribcage and green cargo pants.

She tossed the water bottle to Jackson as she walked past, gracefully bowing as she did so, "Here you go mien Fuhrer."

Jackson scratched his head and shrugged taking a sip of the water.

Rachel grinned and called out after her, "Did you do that?"

Shonali kept walking, looking back over her shoulder once before she went into the adjoining room, and said cooly, "I have absolutely no idea what you are speaking of." As she opened the door, music poured out and was cut off again, as she close it. It opened again a second later, a brunette peaked out "Miss Rachel, perhaps you had forgotten but practice started early today, so Miss Shonali is a little miffed with you. I would hurry unless you want to do hundred squats again."

A voice interrupted her, shouting over the music "Burnie, what are you doing? Have you finished practicing your jumps like I told you or are you just being lazy again!"

The girl looked terrified for a second and quickly shut the door. "Okay! Try again, five, six, seven, eight!"

They all looked at each other. Shonali was terrifying. Clearly there was more than meets the eye to her seemingly good natured personality. "Ugh, she draws a Hitler mustache on Jackson but acts like him herself." said Rachel moving hesitantly towards the door. Caroline grasped the handle, wincing slightly as she did so, "Well, that's our shadow queen for you I suppose."

_"Come on you guys! That was pathetic! I would rather stab my eyes out with a fork and plug my ears with wax than have to watch or listen to that bullshit again. It's Jai ho, not Jai Haw!- I don't CARE if you're out of breathe! Again from the top!"_

_

* * *

_**Review, review, review**

**-KMN**

**P.S I decided to not post the valentine's day chapter but I made a replacement one so that should be up in a few hours :)**


	6. Only Exception

**Okay, so this was originally going to be a chapter about Valentine's day but then I changed my mind and decided not to post it so I wrote this instead. And before I continue I should say that yes it is inspired from that one hannah montana episode "promma mia." Especially the beginning.**

**Songs: Only Exception Paramore**

**enjoy ;)**

* * *

"Ask me, ask me, ask me, ask me, ask me, ask me."

"Okay I have to ask, what is she doing?"

The Host Club, minus Hikaru, Hunny and Mori, was sitting out on the school campus, under a large oak tree out on the grassy grounds, enjoying the fresh air. Rachel, Delilah, Jason, Jackson, Matt and Shonali were with them and had brung sandwichs that Delilah had made in HomeEC. Caroline was missing too. They had been sitting, eating, talking and just enjoying themselves when suddenly Shona seemed like she just wasn't paying attention anymore, and kept looking away, clearly distracted. Then she fixed her gaze on a spot in the distance and had started chanting, "ask me, ask me, ask me, ask me, ask me."

Mostly everyone had looked at her like she'd snapped and finally lost her mind, until Haruhi finally voiced what they had all been thinking: "What is she doing?"

Rachel got up from her spot on Matt's lap and leaned up on her elbows, trading looks with Jackson who was chuckling. Jason nodded towards the direction that Shonali was looking, "Look at that. Mmmm hmmm that boy is fine."

The Host Club followed Shona's gaze to a boy sitting on a picnic table more than a few feet away, reading a book. He had dark brown hair, that hung in his face and obsidean eyes. He wore a dark green, v neck shirt that was tight enough to show off his build and had a black backpack slung over his shoulder. "That's David Marshall. She's hoping he'll ask her to the Senior Prom."

Rachel leaned against Matt, "You know it's so great that I don't have to sit around anymore, praying that the one guy I really want to go with will ask me. That feeling of being so desperate, so needy, so-"

"Ask me, ask me, ask me, ask me, ask me, ask me now. Ask me now."

"-So that."

Shonali looked away from David for second to throw Rachel a dirty look. "Shona, sweetheart, look at how your acting, you know I'm right."

Shonali sighed and leaned back against the tree again beside Kyoya and Haruhi. "Yeah, I guess you are right. I'm acting ridiculous." She shrugged "If it's meant to happen it'll happen right? I mean, I'm a mature, independent and strong woman. I don't need my happiness to depend on some guy to ask me to some lame prom." She bit her lip, "Even if that guy has the most amazing eyes, smile, personality. He's so funny, smart and great."

"Shona."

Shonali let out a breath and slumped in defeat, rolling her eyes, "Okay fine you're right again. He's a complete idiot but he's a really hot idiot. If we went together, I'll have Prom Queen in the bag." She paused, "And he does have really nice eyes."

Jackson burst out laughing. "Idiot is an understatement. Last week he asked me if the square root of four was rainbows."

"I mean, I don't understand," Shonali continued, "I've been dropping hints for like two weeks and look at this outfit," she said gesturing to the denim shorts and tight white top under a pink plaid shirt she had on, "If my neckline were any lower or my shorts any shorter, I'd be sitting in the dean's office right now, not to mention getting hell from my mother."

"Yeah you're right, Jackie Daniels nearly had a heart attack this morning when he saw you. It's gonna take a week for his boner to go down." said Matt laughing, wrapping an arm around Rachel.

Jackson slapped Matt a high five, "Nice."

"Why don't you just go with Luca?" Delilah leaning against the tree on the other side of Haruhi. "He's nice and he likes you."

"The Italian exchange student?" Jackson asked as Delilah nodded.

"Yeah, but he's only been here like two weeks and no one really knows him. Well, no one important anyway. He does have his own uh...following of groupies though."

"Does it really matter who you go with?"

"Uh yes! I really want to be prom queen. My sister was when she went here and so was my mother."

"Okay, what about Kyoya? You two seem to get along fine and his eyes are the same color as pretty boy over there."

Shonali seemed to process this for a second, before leaning over closer to Kyoya and swiftly pulling off his glasses. She was practically sitting in his lap. She cocked her head and looked at him. "No," she said finally, "They're gray," She leaned across and pulled Delilah closer to show her. Delilah turned bright red. "Could you get your kicks somewhere other than in my face." he asked her dryly.

She laughed, letting Delilah go and handing him back his glasses. "Aww, Kyo-chan, don't tell me you actually wanted to go with me?"

She moved away from him, and leaned back against the tree again, stretching her legs out in front of her. "Oh yes, you're just breaking my heart now." he said as he leaned forward to pick a blade of grass from her hair. "Hmph, only if he had a heart to break." said Kaoru under his breath. Shonali laughed, leaning away, seeming to momentarily forget about David, until..."Hey Shona." they turned to see David himself standing in front of them. Shonali looked up, seeming to turn on an aura of extra brightness. "Oh hey David! Where are you going?"

"Oh I have English, only I forgot where it was so I figured I should start looking now if I'm gonna be on time." He smiled down at her, a mixture of charm and perpetual confusion, hair flopping down into his eyes.

"English? Isn't that the room next to the giant, prom, poster." She said, enunciating very syllable. "You know, on the second floor by the stairs close to the other giant, prom, poster."

"Oh." he said looking relieved. "Oh yeah, I remember now. Thanks!" He turned away to go.

"You better hurry, it's always good to be prom...pt. Prom..pt. You get it...cause...oh never mind." She rolled her eyes and sat back.

Then he turned back, "Hey Shona, I have something I want to ask you." She sat up. "Yes?"

"Well you know how prom's coming...well I was wondering if-" he was interrupted by sudden outburst of laughter from a few feet away. A small crowd of people were surrounding a bench where a pretty asian girl in a red dress sat. A gangly, brown haired teenager stood beside her. He had on an overlarge white shirt, pants that reached up past his waist, a blue back pack and glasses. He looked nervous and then opened his mouth and stumbled through a few rapid, almost incoherent sentences. "So Amy, I was thinking that maybe if you're not going to the uh...um...you know prom, event, celebratory event, thing yet, you can I could possibly, maybe go together. Or in separate cars if that makes you more comfortable, we could go there together in..uh... separate cars...prom? He held up a single red rose, looking hopeful. The girl looked mortified as the people around them tittered. "Wow, Aaron that's totally sweet of you," she finally said, "but to tell you the truth...I'm waiting for someone better to ask. Sorry!" With that she ran quickly away. The people dispersed too, having gotten their fill of amusement. "What a loser," one guy remarked.

David turned back to Shona, who was looking at Aaron with a strange expression on her face. "So, as I was saying-" She held up her hand, stopping him mid sentence. "Yeah, yeah hold that thought." She got up, muttering "What a _bitch_" under her breath. She walked over to Aaron, who was sitting on the bench that Amy had left, with his head cast down, rose drooping at his side.

"Hey, Aaron?"

He looked up, eyes widening when he saw her. "I'm sorry, I was just leaving!" He got up and looked like he would have ran away, but she stopped him "No, no! Stay, I came over here to talk to you actually." He turned back around, confusion and bewilderment crossing his face, "Talk to me? Why? Unless..." his eyes widened in horror as he looked wildly around, "Unless you're here to distract me, so the football team can sneak up from behind and throw grape slushies at me again."

Now it was Shonali's turn to look confused, "No.." she said slowly. "Actually, I- wait what do you mean _again_? That's happened before?"

He shifted uncomfortably, "Yeah well, last week a cheerleader cornered me, saying that she wanted 'to talk' and then a few guys...well you know the rest." He turned to walk away again, but she called after him, pity written all over her face. "Aaron I saw what happened with Amy and I just wanted to tell you that she's an idiot. Any girl at this school would be lucky to go to prom with a guy as nice as you." He turned back, surprised, "Really, you mean it?" She smiled, "Of course. Don't give up, I'm sure there's someone who would be willing to go with you." He picked up his rose from the bench smiling. "Okay."

She turned to walk back, "Will you go to prom with me?" and froze. She seemed to decide she had merely been hearing things when suddenly, the voice called after her again, "Shonali"

Shona turned back, and she saw Aaron, holding out the red rose to her, that same hopeful expression on his face. "Oh, you were talking to me. I thought maybe it was my imagination..."

"Will you go to prom with me?" he repeated. Shonali opened her mouth, but no words came out. "Ummm, Aaron...I-" she stopped as she noticed the laughter again and heard another guy whisper to his friends, "Wow, he really is pathetic. How in hell does he think he has a chance with her?" She looked annoyed for a brief instant before, smiling kindly at Aaron and taking the rose, "Sure, I would love to go with you." That shut everyone up. They all looked stunned. New whispers began to break out, "Oh my god, she's going with _that_."

"Yes!' Aaron excitedly exclaimed, taking out his phone, "My best friend is not going to believe this." She laughed slightly as he raised the phone to his ear and walked away, "Hey mom, you're never gonna believe this!"

She walked back to where everyone was sitting. "Amazing, I get up to go comfort a guy... and come back with a prom date." She sat back down against the tree, staring at the rose as if it were a bomb. Rachel wedged herself between Kyoya and Shonali, throwing her arms around the latter. "Well I think you did a good thing! I'm so proud of you!"

Delilah peeked around Rachel at Shonali, "But what about prom queen?" Shonali shrugged as she pried Rachel off of her, "There'll be other prom's. I can wait until next year..."

She looked at David, who was staring at her with his mouth open. "Oh, uh... what were you going to ask me?" He ran his fingers through his hair, letting out a long breath, looking throughly confused. "Well, I was going to ask you to go to prom, but since you've chosen to go with that loser, I guess I might as well go ask Katie Whire..." He got up. Everyone looked at Shonali, who had both eyebrows raised, "Oh, well that's okay. I mean, Katie's a nice girl and I heard that for prom she might even shave her back."

He looked down at her, eyes wide, "WHAT?"

"Have fun," she said sweetly rising again and walking towards the school. They watched her bump into Amy, gracefully tripping her as she walked by. As Amy lay sprawled on the grass, Shonali turned, looking down at her, "Oops, my bad."

* * *

Caroline wandered through the halls of the school, alone. She was dressed in her usual way: An overlarge white t-shirt with a drooping circular neckline which had the name of an obscure band scrawled across the chest and black tights with black high heeled booties. A mess of bracelets adorned her left wrist and a silver heart shaped necklace hung from her neck, almost hidden by her mass of bright red hair.

She was out of place at such a high institute school. Rich kids normally didn't like the grungy looks she wore and before she had joined the Performing Arts Club, she had been a freak and an outcast.

As she thought of the club, a small smile crossed her face. The club was a second family to her. She felt like she had a place with them. She was the rocker chick, the badass. In the performing arts club, each of the members filled a specific niche. Rachel was the typical, bubbly blonde. She was the All-American girl, the girl who everyone liked and got along with, the most popular girl in school. She was the mother hen. Matt was the ideal high school guy that every girl secretly fantasized about at one point in their lives. He was the captain of the football team, the male lead in the club and he had a voice that would put even the most famous rock legends to shame. He was all man. Jason was your typical, flamboyant gay guy. He projected every stereotype ever shown on TV of what gay men acted like. Jackson was a little more complicated. He was gay too, but in a quieter way. He was also a little bit emo with his swoopy hair that had pink highlights, tight skinny jeans and moody guitar playing. Besides all of that, he was also the confused kid. The one that people who had problems with their sexuality could relate too. He was gay, but everyone knew that he had something for Rachel. Well, except for Rachel herself of course. That's why they secretly labelled him "the bisexual' of the club. Shonali was the one with the raw sex appeal. She had a pert little figure with breasts that almost defied gravity and could bounce around in a the shortest skirts should she choose to, while still not showing too much but just enough to tempt the mind. It was always unclear to Caroline if this was an unconscious or conscious thing on her part, but she would do things or saying things that would make most men crazy with lust. Maybe it was her smile, which always oozed easy confidence. Delilah was her polar opposite. She was shy unless,strangely enough, in front of a roaring crowd, awkward among boys and was probably the only member of the club who was still a virgin. She was sweet though, and kind and caring. She had a very nurturing personality.

Yes, Caroline had a place in this family of hers, a place which was unique and which only she could fill. Caroline wasn't afraid to be upfront with people and let them know exactly what everyone else was thinking but was too afraid to say. She had a very strong personality, which scared a lot of guys but also attracted them. She was the rebel. The first one to join in on any trouble making and also the first one to get blamed for it too. She was also probably the most intellectual, though her grades weren't as high as either Rachel's, Shonali's or Delilah's. But, she could keep up whenever one of the others talked about their particular area of expertise and speak on an equal level. With Rachel it was English Literature or High Art; with Shonali it was Language, World Culture or Business; with Jason it was Haute Couture ; Jackson, Music; Matt, Sports and with Delilah, Natural Studies or Biology.

She continued to smile to herself, humming 'Highway to Hell' as she walked along. She stopped suddenly when she noticed a lone figure, sitting leaning against the wall at the far end of the hallway, gazing out of the large windows which lit up the school. She could make a out a mop of black hair and as she got closer, she realized it was Hikaru. He didn't hear her approach at first, he had green headphones over his ears was listening to something really loud. She listened closer and realized it sounded like KISS.

She plopped down beside him, "So KISS huh? Which song?" He turned and looked at her surprised, then quickly scooted away a little. "It's uh, Shout It Out Loud." She looked at him, "So you like that kind of stuff?"

"Well yeah, I mean it's classic rock. But my favorite band right is probably Fire Theft."

"Really. Wow." she said before softly singing,_ "It's the simple things that are so hard to grasp, can't find myself in all these days that pass. But I can find feel it when it shines, never mind the way they shy, turning around along the trail. My whole world is falling in love with you, can't find the road that runs through, falling in love with you."_

Hikaru took off his headphones completely, looking mildly impressed, "You know them?"

"Are you kidding? I found them six months ago! They're old news. Now if you want to listen to something really good, try this-" she pulled put her ipod from the leather purse she had slung over her shoulder and handed him an ear phone.

* * *

"Kyoya! Stop that!" said a laughing Shonali as the two of them walked back towards the club room. "I'm sorry Madam Hitler, did I hurt your feelings?" he asked feigning complete seriousness.

"Stop calling me that!"

"Well after last Monday, I don't see what else I should call you. You had your poor dancers cowering against the far wall by the end of practice. Also, I've never seen Tamaki turn that particular shade of white before. It was quite interesting."

"Well, if I'm not firm with them, they won't take me seriously."

"Whatever you say."

He picked up a lilac rose from a nearby vase, and handed it to her. She took with a curious smile, "What's this for? Or are you just trying to get me to go to prom with you? In case you haven't heard, it's took late. Someone already asked me."

He smiled, "No, actually I was wondering if I might ask you a question." He waited until she answered the affirmative before continuing, "You said so yourself, if you had gone with David, you would be prom queen and surely you can't have been so blind as to not know that he had been about to ask you before that Aaron boy interrupted him. I wonder, why did you give up what was going to be a sure thing? You could have told Aaron that someone had already asked you. It wouldn't have been a lie. Besides what could you possibly gain by going with him?"

She stopped, looking up at him. "I would gain nothing. But the thing you have to understand is, I've known Aaron my entire life. Of course I've never really talked to him because of the different places we have in the high school-" she paused, searching for the right word, "hierarchy, I suppose you would call it. He's always been a little bit on the dorky side, not very good at talking to girls, awkward and shy. In fact, the poor guy's never even been on a date let alone ever kissed a girl. Anyone could imagine what having a date to prom would mean to someone like that. Besides, I meant what I said when I told him he was nice. He's a real gentleman unlike most of the other guys at this school. I don't mind going with him even if it won't benefit me any, just to make him happy, even if its for only one night." She resumed walking, "Does that answer your question?"

Kyoya, caught up with her, "So essentially what you are saying is you knew that David was going to ask you but accepted Aaron because you want to make him happy even if you will gain nothing from it."

She nodded, "Well nothing tangible at least but yes, that's correct." Shonali, smiled at Kyoya before saying, "In return, can I now ask you a question?"

"Be my guest."

She stopped again as they reached the Arts Club doors and leaned back against them, facing him. "Do you always seek merit in all your actions?"

He didn't even have to think before answering, "Yes."

She smiled as she turned around, sighing, "I'll just never understand it." She placed her hand on the door handle and turned it, "Why go to all the trouble of pretending to be such a big jerk when you're actually a really nice guy?" She opened the door and walked in. He stood there for a moment before following, smiling in the shadows of the hallway.

She knew.

This was turning out to be quite interesting.

* * *

Neither Caroline nor Hikaru knew how much time had passed before they decided to go to the Club room. They had spent a long time comparing musical tastes and favorite songs, griping over mainstream bands and complaining about how they were 'butchering music.' Just as they arrived outside the club room doors, Caroline turned to Hikaru and said, "I know we just met each other but do you want to go to prom together?"

Hikaru looked at her blankly, "What?"

"Well, its just that all of the Arts Club members have to go, and I know its going to be totally lame, but maybe it'll be less boring if you're there with me. It might even be...fun."

She looked at him, keeping her face carefully neutral. "I guess that would be okay. Tamaki's probably going to drag us all along with him and Haruhi anyway."

She brightened, "Cool. It's a date!" She walked into the club room, leaving a Hikaru to turn slowly whiter and whiter outside. _"Did she just say, date?"_

_

* * *

_

Shonali waited outside the school for her car to come and pick her up. She pulled her coat closer around herself, trying to keep warm in the chilly February air. She thought about what had happened today and how she was going to prom with Aaron. Somehow, she couldn't bring herself to be disappointed over the turn of events. In one day, in five minutes in fact, she gone from thinking of David as attractive and good looking to looking at him as less than the filth that lay strewn about in dirty Calcutta streets. _"What a jerk."_ she thought to herself angrily, _"And what about Amy, little Miss-High-And-Mighty, what gives her the right to treat someone so badly? Sure she didn't have to go with him, but she could've been a lot nicer about it."_

She realized that this was why she hated other wealthy children. They always acted as if they were above other people and had the right to always act in complete self interest. To protect their own social standing, their own money, their own feelings. It was always I, I, I and me, me, me. They would never lift a finger to do something for anyone unless it directly helped them in some way. She had seen this all over the world, like when they had lived in Africa for six months. Rich kids would come down and play with the poor children all the time but only when the press was around. When they weren't around, those kids were off getting manicures, or out shopping, enjoying the luxury of their mansions and looking down at the same kids they had gotten along with so well the day before, as nothing but vermin.

Most people assumed she was that way too. She was head cheerleader, one of the most popular girls in school, she could have any guy she wanted and so people like Aaron naturally thought she would be a bully and be cruel to them. She knew she was as manipulative as everyone else when it came down to it. She would use any means necessary to get what she wanted. But she was only like that with people she considered to be above her or on an equal level to her. People that could give her something but she would never use someone lower than her to do it.

She let out a shaky breath. _"Oh well, no point in getting all upset over this."_ She turned her mind to what to do with Aaron. She would definitely have to let Jason loose on him. His hair would have to be straightened and something needed to be done about his clothes. Her thoughts were interrupted by her phone ringing.

"Hello?"

"Shonali dear where are you?" came a gentle voice from out the other end.

"Oh, hey mom. I'm just waiting for the car to come get me."

"Jonathan hasn't come for you yet? Remind to have a talk with him later. Punctuality is-"

"The sign of a lady." finished Shonali, rolling her eyes, "Yeah, yeah I know mom."

"Don't interrupt me dear."

"Sorry."

"Anyway, I was calling to tell you that we're going to Italy on the fourteenth. I have an important meeting with the owner of a large textile company there and he has a son who is very eager to meet you."

"Actually, mom I can't go... Senior Prom is on the fourteenth and I already have a date."

Her tone changed, "Oh, well that's okay. Who is your date?"

"Aaron Averett"

"The son of Christian Averett? _The video game designer._"

Shonali could hear the disgust in her mother's voice. "Yes. That's right."

"What on earth possessed you to go with him?"

"I felt bad for him mom."

"You know his family is of lower rank than ours and you tell me you're stooping to his level out of _pity_?"

Shonali said nothing.

"Shonali, you listen to me. I absolutely need you to come to Italy with me on fourteenth. This deal could mean millions and a potential marriage between our families may be in cards. His son really likes you."

"I don't even know him."

"Yes, but he has seen pictures of you. I'm sure Mr Rossi would be more than willing to make a more lenient deal if he saw you two together. Besides, they're related to the Valentinos. If you met his son, you might also get a chance to meet them. An opportunity like this doesn't present itself often Shonali."

"But mom-"

"And think about your Nonna and Nonno, I'm sure they would love to see you."

"Mother, in case you've forgotten they'll both be in Paris for Valentine's Day and I'm sure they will want to spend the day alone."

"Shonali. This is not up for discussion."

"Mother, the car's here. I have to go."

"Don't hang up on me young lady!"

She turned her phone off, shoving it back into her bag. She watched the black Ferrari pull up in front of her and got in, trying to prepare herself for what awaited her at home.

* * *

"Tamaki, I don't want to go."

"But Kyoya-" he whined.

"No." he said quickly cutting him off.

Kyoya, Tamaki, Haruhi, Jackson and Delilah were walking out of the school. They had all decided to walk home since they only lived within a mile of the school. Tamaki was now pressuring an unwilling Kyoya to go to prom with them but he was adamant and would not budge.

"There's really no point in going." he said.

"It'll be so much fun though! Come on Kyoya."

"No."

"Senpai, although I hate to do it, I agree with Tamaki. What's the harm?"

Kyoya looked around at Haruhi, who was walking beside Delilah, in surprise, "Coming from you Haruhi, that sounds very strange. You're normally the one who doesn't want to go to this type of thing."

She shrugged, "Things change."

Jackson chuckled, "Yeah that's what all girls say when they get boyfriends." He looked Kyoya, "Besides there are at least twenty girls in our class alone that would love to get their hands on you. Maybe things are different in Japan, but American girls love the heartless, cold guys. They really aren't into the princely mumbo jumbo that Tamaki pulls."

Tamaki looked depressed for a second, before Haruhi caught a death grip on his arm, "But that doesn't matter to him now does it? Because he has a nice, loving girlfriend now. Ne? " Which each word she put more and more pressure on his arm until he finally squeaked out "Hai!"

Delilah, who had been silent the whole time, finally found the courage to speak up. "Maybe we could go together..." Everyone turned and looked at her. "Um... well its just that neither of us really want to go but since we're being forced to, we might as well go together right? Caroline's going with Hikaru and Kaoru won't say anything about it but I think he and Jason are going as friends. Shonali and Aaron and going together and Matt is with Rachel. We're kind of the only ones left without dates. So we could go as friends...or not...it was a silly idea. Never mind!"

She turned pink and fell silent. "No, I would like to go with you, as friends." he said looking at the olive skinned girl in half shock. He managed a smile as she looked across at him. "Okay." she said softly.

Haruhi smiled at the older girl, before looking over to Jackson. "So, who are you going with?"

He sighed dramatically, "Well I was planning to ask Kyoya but Delilah beat me to the punch. Who knew she was so sneaky! What do you say Kyoya? You still have a chance to sneak away from her."

"How many times are you going to come on to me, before realizing I'm just not interested."

"Until you _are_ interested." he retorted back with a cheeky grin.

* * *

It was early the next morning when everyone walked into the Arts Club room. "Oh my gosh! I can't believe Prom is today! I'm so excited!" Rachel was squealing. "And I can't believe that Kyoya senpai is up so early." said Haruhi staring at him in bewilderment. "Things change," he said smirking at her. Kyoya had followed Shonali's advice and dragged himself out of bed and watched the sunrise. His grumpy attitude just seemed to evaporate. (Although, he still refused to call it anything as ridiculous as magic.)

Caroline and Hikaru hovered near the back of the group, behind Hunny and Mori, comparing notes about a new band playing in town. Delilah nudged Haruhi, "Look at that! They're so cute together." She giggled into her ear. Haruhi smiled at Hikaru, happy that he was finally spending some time away from his brother and following his own interests. She looked to see how Kaoru was taking it, but saw that he was in conversation with Jason over the new Christian Siriano line. "Yeah, they do look really cute."

Shonali was already in the room, except all they could see of her was her legs with were covered up today with full burgundy tights and dark brown, laced booties. The rest of her was leaning into very large, box which was more than half her height and appeared to be filled with clothes. Her feet weren't even touching the ground at this point.

"Found it!' she said in a muffled voice, as she pulled her torso out of the box, taking a navy blue, slouchy jacket with her. She pulled it on over the loose gray tunic she wore with a thin black belt around the smallest part of her waist, just under her ribcage.

"Hey, Shona." said Jackson, "What're you doing?"

"Oh, I needed a few things. My mother and I are going to Italy."

"Italy?" asked Delilah curiously "When?"

Shonali turned and picked up her school back from the floor. "Today. We're only going for two or three days, but-"

"But prom's today. So does that mean you're leaving afterwards or-?" Rachel let the question hang in the air.

"No. I'm leaving this afternoon." She walked quickly past them and was almost out the door when Rachel called out after her, "What about Aaron?" Shonali paused at the door, before walking out. Not bothering to answer.

Rachel flopped down on a nearby couch. "Of course. I knew this would happen."

"Knew what would happen?"

"Shonali's mother is...complicated. She has this thing about people who are of lower rank or higher rank. To put it lightly, she's very uptight. She would definitely disapprove of her daughter going with someone like Aaron. Someone who has no class, no background, comparatively little money and no looks."

Matt sat down beside her, "And of course Shona's going to do what ever her mom tells her so basically-"

"Aaron ends up with a broken heart, Shonali ends up unhappy and her mother is satisfied." finished Jackson. "It's what always happens. You just have the replace the name of the person who gets his or her heart ripped out."

Hunny sat down on Rachel's other side, "Should I go talk to her?"

Kyoya was already half way out the door, "I'll go."

They waited until the door slammed shut behind him. "Do you think something's going on between those two?" asked Jason.

Tamaki shurgged, moving over to examine an elaborately detailed feathery dress on a nearby mannequin. "Probably not, it's very hard for any girl, even Shona-chan, to get Kyoya to like her in that way. In fact I don't think its ever happened at all." He reached out to run a hand down the peacock feathers that adorned the skirt of the dress. "It's a shame really, Kyo's a pretty passionate guy when he wants to be."

* * *

Shonali sat on the school's roof amongst the flowers, her head between her hands, thinking. _"What am I going to tell Aaron? Gee I'm sorry I can't go to prom with you because my mother's a royal pain in the ass? Oh god, I'm such a terrible person."_

A smooth, cool voice interrupted her thoughts. "I thought I'd find you up here and it looks like I was right." She looked over to see Kyoya come and sit beside her. She didn't even have the energy to smile at him. "What do you want?" she asked burying her face in her arms. "Ouch. That was cold."

"Kyoya."

He silent for a few moments, gazing at the black haired girl next to him, "Look Shonali-san, I don't want to be the one who tells you how to run your life, but what are you doing? After what you told me yesterday I assumed that-"

She looked up at him, and spoked almost angrily. "Yeah? Well clearly whatever you were thinking was wrong. Look, think of me what you will, but I can't go. Family always comes first. Always."

"You're right, the wishes of our parents must always factor into our decisions. Trust me, I know that better than anybody." He put a gentle hand on her shoulder, "However, they shouldn't be only the thing. Sometimes what we want, and what we need is follow whatever our own heads are telling us to do."

Shonali looked up into his steel grey eyes and saw how serious he looked. "Are you speaking from personal experience or are you just repeating the fluff that Tamaki normally throws around?"

Kyoya looked evenly back at the girl in front of him. Something seemed to pass between them at moment as they recognized what everyone else had known since they first met: they recognized just how alike they really were. Suddenly he found himself telling what he even spoke of rarely with his closest friends, "I'm the third son to a father who never notices me, to a father who will never give me control of the family company. I know what its like to feel like a slave to your parent's wishes. I know what it feels like to plan your every move every breath to impress someone else. I get it."

"So what changed?" she asked softly. Neither had noticed how close they had gotten to each other.

He smiled slightly. Shonali noticed how his eyes soften a little and almost missed what he said next, "I met an annoying blonde idiot, who had other ideas about life and about doing what you wanted to do instead of letting of people control your life and your actions."

She looked away, "I still can't go."

"And that's the difference between you and I." He got up and walked back to wards the exit, "I would never let down my friends, even at the cost of my family's opinion."

When he left, he didn't look back and Shonali didn't bother looking up to see if he had truly gone before she let a few tears spill from her eyes, feeling suffocated and miserable.

* * *

When Kyoya came back into the room, everyone seemed to be waiting for him, "Well?" asked Tamaki and Rachel, expectantly.

He just shook his head and sat down beside Kaoru.

No one spoke.

"Did she tell Aaron yet?" Caroline finally asked.

"She will. I don't think she would just leave without telling him..." Rachel said, frowning.

Delilah sidled up to Kyoya as everyone else began moving slowly gathering up their things again to go to class. "Was she up on the rooftop?" He look down at the green eyed girl and nodded. "Yes. There are really beautiful flowers up there by the way. You must have worked hard on them." She looked surprised. "You know about that?" He held the door open for her. "Shonali- san told me when we were up there before." Delilah nodded, "Oh." They fell silent on the way to class. Finally Delilah spoked again, "You shouldn't think too badly of her. Shona's always had a weak spot when it comes to her mother." Kyoya didn't know what to say to that so he nodded and walked into class after Delilah, "I won't."

But he still wondered if he was being honest with himself.

* * *

A woman about 5'7, dark brown hair, olive skin and green-blue eyes stood at the New York international airport. Her long, fitted red trench coat made her stand out from the moving crowd. Her black hair was pulled into an elegant updo but she wore minimal make up. She was stunning.

I could recognize my mother from a mile away. She always stood out. Maybe that's why dad married her. I could never figure it out. They were such polar opposites. I stepped up behind her, "Hello mother."

She turned and smiled at me stiffly, "You are late." Her voice was always so formal and stiff but with a specific elegant cadence which I could never copy exactly right. I suppose it came from her Italian roots.

"I'm sorry, I had to make a phone call."

"Well come one then, our plane is waiting."

My body guard, Jonathan, stepped up then, "Actually, Madam I just found out that there's been a slight delay. You may have to wait a few more minutes." My mother let out a small breath and said, "Oh, very well." Then turned and muttered something incoherent about punctuality not meaning anything to anyone anymore. I sighed and leaned against the window, overlooking the runway. I thought about my conversation with Aaron. No, conversation wasn't the word because conversation implies two people speaking to each other. What I had done was blurt out in the fastest way possible why I couldn't go with him and then hung up before he could reply.

I felt like crap. Poor Aaron.

My mother turned to me and began nonchalantly speaking of this Mr Rossi we were supposed to meet and his son. I was only half listening, my mind was far away thinking of my father. _"Dad, I need help. I don't know what to do, I just-"_ My phone rang suddenly in my pocket. I excused myself from my mother, walking a few feet away to take the call.

**_When I was younger I saw my daddy cry_**

**_and curse at the wind._**

**_He broke his own heart and I watched_**

**_as he tried to reassemble it._**

"Hello?"

"It's still not too late you know."

"Kyoya?"

"Shonali-san, you can still come back."

**_And my momma swore_**

**_that she would never let herself forget._**

"I already told Aaron I can't go with him, I'm with my mother right now and our plane leaves in five minutes, prom's already started, so yeah, I'm pretty sure I can't."

"Better late than never."

**_And that was the day that I promised_**

**_I'd never sing of love if it does not exist._**

"Wow. Look little Mr. Optimist."

I heard him sigh, before saying softly, "I know you'll do the right thing Shonali-san. I've come to expect that of you. It's one of the reasons you're my friend."

**_But darling,_**

**_You are the only exception._**

The other line went dead. I stood there for a few moments gazing at the tiny phone in my hand.

**_You are the only exception._**

I could only vaguely hear my mother calling my name.

**_You are the only exception._**

I numbly put my phone back it my jacket pocket and followed the sound of her voice.

"Let's go our plane has finally arrived."

**_You are the only exception._**

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket as we walked. Just once. It was a text. I pulled it out and saw Rachel's name:_ 'Sweetie, no judgements. I want you to do what's right for you. I love you no matter which choice you make.'_

**_Maybe I know somewhere_**

**_deep in my soul_**

**_that love never lasts._**

It vibrated again. This time it was Jackson: _I'm here for you._

then Caroline: _Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it. I know you have both_.

Delilah: _I know you say family comes first_. _We're your family too._

Jason: _You're the one who was always teaching me right from wrong. The student becomes the teacher?_

Matt: _I know its cliche but do what you're heart says. We're here for you either way._

**_And we've got to find other ways_**

**_to make it alone._**

**_Or keep a straight face._**

Shonali didn't know whether to laugh or cry. To an outsider, all of this must seem ridiculous. Why were her friends trying so hard to get her to go to prom with some dorky guy? No, this was something much bigger than that. This was about finally standing up to her mother and asserting some control in her life. Doing something because she felt it was the right thing to do and doing it without anyone holding her back. It was about releasing the chains she sometimes felt wrapping around her neck.

Her mother's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

**_And I've always lived like this_**

**_keeping a comfortable distance._**

"Shonali, hurry up. What have you stopped for?"

**_And up until now I've sworn to myself_**

**_that I'm content with loneliness._**

Suddenly it was like someone else had taken control of her limbs and her mouth. She looked straight into her mother's black eyes. "No." She saw the confusion spread across her mother's face as she asked, "What do you mean 'no'?"

"I am not going with you to Italy. In fact, I'm going back home, I'm going to get dressed and I am going to prom with Aaron. I don't care what you do or say anymore. I'm doing this because I know its the right thing and I know that its what dad would have wanted."

She turned her back on her mother's shocked face.

"Shonali, your father is dead. You have no idea what he would have wanted."

She ignored her and kept walking, forcing herself not to run. _"I know he wouldn't have wanted this. He wouldn't have wanted to see what you've become."_

**_Because none of it was ever worth the risk._**

Her resolve broke and she broke into a full sprint, leaping over beaches and dodging past people until she felt the cool night air hit her face.

**_Well you are the only exception._**

**_You are the only exception._**

_"We knew you'd come."_

**_You are the only exception._**

She turned and felt a jolt go through her as she saw Tamaki and Haruhi standing beside the airport doors. "What- what're you guys doing here?"

**_You are the only exception._**

Haruhi reached out and grasped her hand, leading her towards a waiting black car. "We're here to get you silly." She opened the door and Hunny popped out, holding a small bundle, "And we have your dress."

**_You are the only exception._**

**_

* * *

_**

Rachel looked at her watch. They were in front of Aaron's house, waiting for Tamaki, Haruhi and Hunny. "Maybe she decided to leave with her mother after all."

Caroline sighed, "Looks like our plan failed." They all turned to go, when Kyoya suddenly turned, "Wait." They heard a breathless voice behind them. "Hey you guys, WAIT UP!" Shonali came running towards them, holding her skirt up so it wouldn't touch the ground. Her hair was curled so that it hung around her face and just brushed the tips of her shoulder blades. It perfectly framed her wide, almond shaped hazel eyes. She wore a strapless olive green gown, which was tightly fitted at the top, showing off her small waist before flaring out into a ruffled skirt, set with silver jewels. Her skin seemed to glow in the moonlight.

**_I've got a tight grip on reality,_**

**_but I can't let go of what's in front of me here._**

She stopped when she reached Kyoya, looking up at him breathlessly.

"I thought you were with you mother."

"I changed my mind."

**_I know you're leaving in the morning_**

**_when you wake up._**

"In that case," he handed her a single red rose. "You'll need this."

**_Leave me with some kind of proof it's not a dream._**

She smiled as she took it and went up the stairs to Aaron's small house where he lived with his mother for three months of the year.

**_You are the only exception._**

She rang the door bell and waited.

**_You are the only exception._**

When Aaron answered the door, first surprise then hurt crossed his face.

**_You are the only exception._**

She pulled the rose out from behind her back where she had hidden it when he answered the door and offered it to him. She smiled sweetly,"Aaron, will you go to prom with me?"

**_You are the only exception._**

He pretended to think about it seriously for a second before saying, "Well I'll have to move some things around in my oh so busy schedule, but..." he took the rose and smiled in his dorky way, "I think I can squeeze it in."

**_You are the only exception._**

"Lets get this boy into his tux!"

"Ooh, is you're dad in there dude? I have a million questions to ask him about Halo."

"Cool house Mrs. Averett. It's so tiny!"

"Are those petunias? How beautiful."

**_You are the only exception._**

Shonali laughed as her friends all herded into the house, followed by most of the Host Club and Hunny, Haruhi and Tamaki who had just arrived, panting.

"I can't believe we had to run an entire block because of some dumb construction project."

**_You are the only exception._**

She was about to go inside too when someone pulled her back into the shadows of the porch.

**_You are the only exception._**

"I told you, you'd do the right thing Shonali."

Shonali smiled up at Kyoya, looking into his beautiful eyes. "Yes. I suppose you did." She stopped and leaned back a little, 'Wait did you just call me Shonali?"

"That is your name isn't it?" he asked looking adorably confused.

"Yes but normally you add a _'miss'_ or a '_san'_ to it."

He smirked as he leaned in closer, until she was almost pressed up against the wall of the house and could feel his breath on the back of her expose neck, "I guess that means I just like you a little more now than before."

**_And I'm on my way to believing_**.

He had an almost intoxicating scent and she wanted to stay how they were for a second just so she could be around it a little more. Instead she pushed him away laughing, gently chastising him, "Flirting with another guy's date? I just don't know what to do with you sometimes Ohtori.

"Oh, okay. I see. Is that how its going to be now?" referring to her calling him by his last name.

"Be what?" She asked innocently. She ran away laughing before he could answer.

_**Oh, and I'm on my way to believing.**_

_**

* * *

**_

**Okay, I don't know about the rest of you, but this was my favorite chapter so far. (Seeing as I haven't written the rest yet)**

**Let me know what you thought! Do Caroline and Hikaru make a cute couple? What do you think about Delilah? Is Shonali beginning to seem like a Mary sue? **

**Review, Review, Review :)**

**Coming up next... (a line fron chapter 7)**

"I've decided that the only way for me to be able to get you under any sort of control again for you to get married."

"I'm ony eighteen."

"Fine. Call it an engagement then. This is for your own good."

***thunder and lightning* Ooo what will happen? **

**See you next weekend!**

**-KMN**

**-KMN**


	7. Author's Note

**Hey guys, sorry I've been MIA for past little while, but**

**I've decided I'm going on hiatus until spring break. **

**I have an insane amount of homework to complete **

**(not to mention an upcoming exam in Calculus) **

**PLUS I'm currently working on another exciting, but**

**time consuming, project. I hope to share it with **

**everyone soon. :) **

**(Hint: It has something to do with drawings of certain people)**

**So anyways, I'll see you on March 27! **

**-KMN**


	8. Caged Bird

**I'm baaaaaccckkkk! Yay :) **

**Important Vocab/People:**

**Didi= sister in Hindi**

**Priya Johari= Shonali's sister (23, married to wealthy American businessman)**

**Veronica Johari= Shonali's mother (Widow, Head of the family, Plans to hand over all of her wealth to her daughters after they are married.)**

**Izumi Ohtori= Kyoya's mother (desceased- unknown causes)**

**Jay Johari= Shonali's father (desceased- cancer)**

**Songs used:**

**A Million Love Songs -Leona Lewis**

**I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings- a poem by Maya Angelou**

**One more thing before you start! This chapter has a lot of choppy scenes where I cut from one place and time to another. Sorry about that, but I didn't knwo how else to write this chapter. :( The italic words in the center are from twenty years previously and record the thoughts of Shonali's dad and Kyoya's mom.**

**

* * *

**

Flashback Twenty Years Previously

_The first time I heard music, the first time I really listened, it set my soul on fire. It was just a man with a simple handmade guitar. He was sitting on a street corner, begging for money, just another face in a million people. But there was something in his voice, something in his expression that made me stop and listen and that's when I knew my very spirit was being sucked out of me and being given to some greater force. That's the moment when I really started living._

_I tried to keep this in my mind as my father hurdled drunken abuses at me, screaming about what a failure I was, how my tinkering away at a piano wasn't going to raise our family up and make it great. He screamed that no girl in her right mind would ever want to marry a failure like me, someone who didn't even have a job because he was too wrapped up in a hobby. I tried to keep cool even when he lashed out and I felt an empty beer bottle collide and smash against my head. I kept silent as I lay on the ground afterward, bleeding...but somewhere inside me a small voice wondered if he was right. A picture of a girl with beautiful black hair and blue eyes flashed across my mind. She was with a handsome guy with jet black hair and cold grey eyes. She was laughing and smiling her perfect smile at him. I felt my heart break as I let the tugging darkness consume me._

_Izumi._

* * *

A Bar in New York

Present Day

"Yes!"

The unexpected outburst made a few people turn their heads towards the small table crowded with fourteen people. Four with dark hair, three blondes, two red heads and five brunettes. The sound of fourteen glassed being smacked down onto a table had come at a small pause in the pounding music but when it started again, people carried on drinking and dancing as if nothing had happened.

Shonali had smacked her glass down on the table first and followed it with a little victory dance in her seat. "I win again! You know, you guys are really, really bad at this."

"Oh well excuse us for not being inebriated drunks." retorted Kyoya, looking down at his empty glass in distaste.

"Oww... Kyoya how could you be mean to my best friend?" Rachel wrapped an arm around Shonali and giggled into her shoulder. "H-hey Shonali, what's in-inebriated?"

Caroline hiccuped little before reaching for the wine bottle in the middle of the table and unsteadily pouring everyone another shot. "Okay, let's make things a little more interesting."

"Oh no!" Haruhi groaned, "Please don't say what I think you're going to say."

Caroline collapsed back down in her seat before leaned forward and giving them all a mischievous smile. "This time the people who finish last have to take off one piece of clothing."

Hikaru laughed, "Count me in. It's like strip poker but without the cards."

Kaoru nodding in agreement nudging Haruhi, "Up for it?" Haruhi made a face, "I think this might just be the booze talking but, BRING IT ON!"

Delilah reached across the table and gave Haruhi a high five, nearly falling over as she sat back down. Mori, the only one who appeared to not be drunk or on the way to being drunk, put an arm around her waist to stop her from falling on him.

"You're going down this time Shona-chan!" said Hunny, placing a hand on the table in the ready position.

Everyone else following suit. Matt stood at the head of the table, leaning over everyone like a referee, "Ready...one...two...three...GO!"

And this time after the mad rush for their drinks, a few seconds later to everyone's surprise, a cool voice calmly announced, "I win."

* * *

_ Outskirts of New Delhi, India_

_"Hey Izumi!"_

_A pretty raven haired girl sat on the edge of a railing that led into a small, squat building made of rust colored brick. At the sound of her named being called she turned her head slightly and focused her wide blue eyes on a boy running towards her._

_"Jay, your late. Again."_

_The boy reached her, putting a hand on the railing to balance himself, and replied in a breathless voice, "Sorry, but your dad stopped by and I had to go and find my dad before I could leave. We don't all have servants to boss around like some people." He looked pointedly at the girl Izumi as he said this, pushing his dark hair out of his hazel eyes._

_"Whatever." She said dryly, rolling her eyes. Izumi hopped off the railing, flattening out the front of her silvery grey sundress as she did so. Her expression softened as she looked at Jay, "How are things at home?" He shook his head, "They're stilling fighting. Dad spends so much time working and mom feels like he's wearing himself out. She's right of course, but he won't listen to her. He says that working for your dad is the best way to raise our family out of...poverty." He frowned, glancing sideways at Izumi. "His word. Not mine. Sure, we're not as rich as your family or have as many cars or as large of a house but we're not poor. We've always had enough to eat, a roof over our heads, clothes to wear and even money left over to do other things. Using that word to describe our situation is almost insulting. There are people here who really are poor and have less that nothing. We're fortunate compared to them. I just don't understand why he can't see that."_

_Izumi, slipped her arm through Jays and gave him a small squeeze. "I know. That's what I love about India. In Japan, people like us are so wrapped up in our own little worlds that we forget to look outside our own walls and see what's really happening. But coming here really opens our eyes." She smiled up at him, her eyes twinkling, "And you'll never believe this, but yesterday Daddy even agreed to coming with me to the orphanage at the edge of the village and play with the children there."_

_Jay laughed, "Now that is something I have got to see."_

_Izumi looked up at her best friend, heart lifting when she saw the trouble on his face wash away and relax back into that familiar happy look she had grown to love. She took his hand and began to lead him forward into the building in front of them. "And don't worry about your dad. I think the desire to have more that you do is natural. Even my dad has it, only he refers to it as social climbing."_

_Jay chuckled, as he held the door open for Izumi. "Wait no. Don't tell me. He's tried to get you into another arranged marriage hasn't he?" An annoyed look crossed her face. "No, but I have a feeling he's going to. Some guy, Ohtori something or other. He's one of the richest men in Japan and is the head of a very powerful family and he has one son. He's been working with dad a lot lately and...well you know the rest." She let out a small frustrated sigh as the two of them grabbed horse saddles from a nearby rack and made their way out through the double doors on the other side of the room. "Do you know the son?"_

_"I think his name is Yoshio. I've only seen him once. He goes to a different school. Ouran Academy I think."_

_"And...?"_

_"And, what?"_

_"Do you like him?"_

_Izumi turned, dropped her saddle on the cold, hard grey floors just as they reached the double doors that led outside again. She put her hands on her hips and made a stern face at Jay, "What is wrong with you? I told you I've only met him once and just because I know that my father's got some strange scheme involving the two of us doesn't mean that I would instantly start to like him. What kind of airhead do you think I am? Honestly, sometimes I just don't understand how your mind works."_

_"Translation: yes, you do like him."_

_Izumi looked away pouting as Jay handed her back his saddle and continued to smile knowingly at her. "Okay...fine." She said relenting a little, "He was really...good looking and polite. I think he seems..." Izumi paused searching for a word. "Nice."_

_Jay rolled his eyes heavenward. "Oh yes. That's the perfect way to describe someone you might marry one day. How romantic. 'He's nice.' "_

_They stopped talking for a second as they went outside again and approached the stables where the horses were kept. Izumi let out a squeal of delight as she ran to a pure white horse and hugged it around the muzzle and cooed into its ears. "Hey there baby, did you miss me?" Jay merely shook his head in exasperation and saddled his own chocolate brown horse. They had been coming out here ever since they were five years old, every summer when Izumi and her family visited from Japan._

_Jay felt a warm feeling wash over him as he thought of Izumi. She was his best friend. The person who always knew what he as feeling, how to cheer him up, how to make him smile and laugh. His world was unimaginable with out her in it. And maybe over the years, his feelings had turned into something more but he didn't want to mess things up between them. Or maybe he didn't want to tell her how he felt because he felt as if he weren't good enough for her. She deserved better than him._

_"Jay, better hurry up or you'll get left behind!" he looked up to see Izumi sitting on her horse already and towering over him. She smiled sweetly at him and nudged her horse forward "God, you're so slow." His response was lost in the sounds of her bell like laughter which carried to every corner of the wide open, lush green fields._

* * *

Eleven rounds later, most of the people around the table were wearing very, very little, except for Matt and Mori who weren't playing and so, were still fully clothed.

Kyoya had been winning for most of the game until, Haruhi of all people finally managed to beat him. After that she was unstoppable. Most of the girls had lost their shoes, Delilah lost her skirt and chose to pull her top down to mid thigh and wear it like a mini dress and Caroline had lost her shirt completely and was now flirting with the bartender as she went to go call a cab.

Matt picked Rachel up bridal style after helping her pull her shirt back over her head and carried her out to his car. The alcohol had finally caught up to her after she stood on a table and recited an entire monologue from Hamlet, to the applause of the 1:00 a.m crowd.

Slowly, one by one everyone filtered out. Tamaki and Haruhi left together, followed closely by Kaoru and Mori. Hikaru was glancing almost sullenly over at Caroline, who had forgotten about the phone in her hand completely. Jason and Delilah had also disappeared together.

Shonali swayed a little on her feet as she looked around for her jacket and her shoes, saying to Kyoya with a small frown, " How is it that your not completely drunk? It practically defies all laws of...nature!"

Hunny, who was beside her, nodded looking disoriented for a second, "Kyo chan's just weird that way."

Kyoya chose not to answer and instead shook his head slightly as she reached across the table to get her jacket, skirt rising dangerously high on the back of her thighs. A couple of guys not already surrounding Caroline, whistled but quickly scattered as Hunny shot them a scary look. Despite his size, everyone knew better than to mess with the small blonde.

Shonali slowly straightened up, completely ignoring the buttons on her blouse that were undone, showing a lacy black bra. She threw her jacket over one arm and leaned on Hunny for support as the two of them stumbled out of the bar together, Kyoya close behind.

Hunny stopped when they reached the outside and sat down on the grass that grew beside the parking lot, which was strewn with cigarette butts and broken bottles. He lifted his slightly clouded gaze up to Shonali and Kyoya and smiled. "This was nice. We hardly ever spend time together..." Kyoya shook his head as he sat down on Hunny's other side, looking a little dizzy. "What are you talking about senpai? We're always together at the Host Club."

"Yeah, but that's not the same. I mean we never spend time together as friends." He looked up at Shonali again. "How about you guys?"

Shonali didn't even pause to think. "All the time." She flopped down on Kyoya's other side and lay down on the soft grass, propping herself up on her elbows. "Rachel makes a point of making sure we all go do something together every month or so that doesn't relate to the club."

"You ever notice, how those two are exactly alike? Rachel and Tamaki I mean." Hunny asked, laughing a little. Shonali laughed with him, "Please. Jackson doesn't let us forget it. He's right though. They could be twins." Kyoya looked back at her, "In some ways, they're more similar than Hikaru and Kaoru."

Shonali sat up suddenly. "Hey, Kyoya, Hunny, tell me more about this host club thing. I'm kind of curious."

"There isn't much to tell that I haven't told you already..." Hunny said furrowing his eyebrows, thinking.

"Well, you did mention something about types."

"Oh yeah! I'm the boy Lolita-"

"Who drinks like a forty year old, suicidal man."

"-Mori's the stoic type-"

"Makes sense. He's barely spoken two words to me for as long as I've known him."

"-the twins are the little devil types and Haruhi is the natural type."

"Wait! The natural type?" she wrinkled her nose. Hunny shrugged, "Don't look at me, Kyo and Tamachan started that." Shonali looked at Kyoya who was completely straight faced as he answered. "We thought it was strange that Haruhi was so good with being around the other girls and thought he was simply naturally good at it. Of course this was before a certain idiot realized 'he' was actually a 'she.' "

Shona cocked her head to the side and looked at Kyoya curiously, "So, what were you?" Hunny laughed, "I think you can guess Shona-chan." Shonali rolled her eyes, "Maybe in a sober state but not like this. I'm completely drunk." She slumped against Kyoya, who stiffed at the contact, and rested her head against his shoulder. "Either way, it was probably something horrible...cold type? No! Cool type." She paused for a second. "So...were all the girls who came to see you complete masochists or what?"

"As usual, you're making no sense what so ever."

"Whatever you say el prostituto."

Shonali didn't speak again for a few minutes. Kyoya smirked, "First time she's been quiet all night." Hunny nudged her, "I think she's completely passed out." Kyoya rolled her eyes and muttered something about inebriated drunks again but didn't try to move Shonali.

"So..." said Hunny slowly. "Is there anything going on between you two?"

Kyoya looked at the little blonde in surprise, "No. Why do you ask?"

Hunny didn't respond directly to the question, saying instead, "Okay. But just so you know, if you hurt her I won't be easy on you just because you're my friend Kyoya."

Kyoya had to suppress a shiver in spite of himself. He had used his full name instead of the usual stupid pet name Hunny normally used. He had never seen the small boy so serious.

Hunny got up and walked around to the side Shonali sat, and picked her jacket up off the ground, wrapping it gently around her shoulders and covered up her shirt, the front of which was still open.

"She's a sister to me, so naturally I would be concerned about her. Her own family's never shown any real concern over the guys she sees as long as she acts properly in public." He paused, as gently brushed a few hairs away from Shonali's face, smiling at Kyoya as he did so.

"But at least with you, I don't have to worry about you being too forward or anything."

"What's that supposed to mean." Kyoya asked dryly.

"Oh Kyo-chan, honestly, your indifference towards boobs is disgusting."

Kyoya looked like he wanted to retort back but was distracted by Shonali, who sighed and mumbled something as she buried her face into the side of his neck.

Hunny smirked and walked off in search of his car._"There's definitely more than one clueless idiot in the club."_

* * *

_Izumi_

_He was so cold. He didn't try to be of course, but somehow she didn't think Yoshio could help it. When he smiled, it made her shudder a little and pull her arms around myself to try and melt the ice that formed around her heart. It was so fake, so calculating and lacking any warmth. When he spoke, he spoke with a pleasant voice but it was devoid of any emotion. Every phrase, every sound was designed to please. He only said only things that he thought she would want to hear._

_She saw right through him...so why was she so strangely drawn to him?_

_She hated herself for it but she was unable to keep away. He attracted her like a moth to a flame. In his case, he was a flame of coldest hellfire, but the analogy was the same anyway. It was the reason why she let him steal her first kiss away from her even when her mind set off warnings when he got too close. It was the reason she let his hands wander up her sides, tug at her clothes and let his lips trail soft kisses down her neck. It was the reason she still sighed and arched under his touch and shivered, not knowing if it was from pleasure or from the cold waves radiating off his body._

_It was also going to be the reason she would say yes to the ring he would eventually place around her finger, sealing her fate to be consumed by the cold fire that would eventually suck the life out of her. It would be the day she sold her body and soul to the Devil._

* * *

Jay

**_Put your head against my life_**

**_What do you hear_**

**_A million words just trying to make_**

**_The love song of the year_**

**_Close your eyes but don't forget_**

**_What you have heard_**

**_A man who's trying to say three words_**

**_The words that make me scared_**

**_A million love songs later_**

**_And here I am trying to tell you that I care_**

**_A million love songs later_**

**_And here I am_**

**_Looking to the future now_**

**_This is what I see_**

**_A million chances pass me by_**

**_A million chances to hold you_**

**_Take me back, take me back_**

**_To where I used to be_**

**_To hide away from all my truth_**

**_Through the light I see_**

**_A million love songs later_**

**_And here I am trying to tell you that I care_**

**_A million love songs later_**

_**And here I am**_

_I frantically scribbled the notes I had just played into my notebook, trying to preserve the song that I had been working to perfect for over a month. I was so wrapped up in my work that I didn't notice the footsteps coming up behind me and jumped when I felt arms wrap around my neck as someone rested their head on top of mine. I felt a wave of confusion wash over me, until I saw the diamond ring resting lightly on one of the fingers of a delicate, pale hand. A simple little ring that I would never have been able to afford even if I had worked every single hour in a day for fifteen years straight. I looked up at Izumi wordlessly and felt my mouth move as I congratulated her, but on the inside I felt hollow._

_Later, when she left with that man, she didn't even look back. Not once._

* * *

Caroline and Hikaru

"Put me down! I can walk!"

"Like hell you can. When you can say that without falling every few steps, let me know."

Caroline struggled a little but eventually gave in, letting Hikaru carry her on his back. "Why are you so stubborn?" she asked pouting. Her speech was starting to slur together a little.

"You're drunk. What was I just supposed to leave you there?"

"So is this just because I'm drunk, or because you like me?" she teased, poking him in the cheek.

"Just shut up."

Caroline laughed softly and rested her head on his shoulder. "Your lucky I'm so tired. Normally, I would've beaten you to a pulp by now."

Hikaru sighed and continued on.

_"She smells like lavender."_

* * *

_"It'll be okay."_

_"How Jay? Tell me how it'll be okay?"_

_Izumi's voice reached into hysteria and she broke down, sobbing for all she was worth. Jay sat helplessly by, patting her on the back and holding her. He was still in shock. Izumi had come by to tell him of how she was leaving with her finance and going back to Japan and she wasn't coming back._

_In one breathless sentence she had told him of how her mother had explained all the expectations that came with being the wife of a man who was the heir to one of the most powerful families in Japan. She must act a certain way, dress a certain way and that included keeping the right company. Unfortunately the 'wrong company' included Jay and the little orphan children she played with. They were dirty and poor and Jay was "a very nice boy, but had no class, no future and no money." She had informed Izumi that they were going back to Japan and all communication between them must be cut off._

_They sat together for a few moments as Izumi tried desperately to calm herself. Finally she spoke, "Jay, I don't know what I'm going to do. I like it here. I like being with you. You're my best friend. How am I supposed to give that up?"_

_He buried his face in her hair, "It's for the best." His voice broke a little. "Besides, you know they can't keep us apart. I'll find a way to see you. I promise."_

_They held each other for the last time, kissed each other on the cheek one last time. Izumi was gone the next day_

* * *

_Five Years Later, Venice Italy. _

_Veronica_

_"There you are!" looked behind me to see my husband walking towards me with his arms outstretched. I laughed as I fell easily into them. "Where have you been?" he asked me as he kissed my on top of my forehead, moving a few strands of hair back into place. I looked up into his hazel eyes and smiled, "Jay, I told you I was going shopping! We have that big arts gala to attend tonight." I straightened his tie as I spoke, "Honestly, you are so forgetful sometimes."_

_He laughed and I felt it rumbling in his chest, "I'm sorry Nica," he said calling me by his pet name for me, "I was in the studio with a young girl from America. She has a lot of talent and I was so wrapped up in recording her song, I guess I let some things slip my mind."_

_I rolled my eyes, "You and your music."_

_"So," he said wrapping an arm around my waist and leading me into the house, "Who else is attending the gala tonight?"_

_"Oh all the richest families in Italy mostly. Although I heard rumors that the Rockefellers and Du Ponts are going to be there, as well as some families from Japan."_

_"Really? Like who." Jay tried to keep the interest out of his voice but I could hear it. "Oh just the Hitachiins, the Suohs, the Hisahitos and the Yamadas."_

_"Is that it?" He asked, looking disappointed. "Yes I think so." I bit my lip to hide my smile. "Oh wait, I forgot, the Ootoris are coming too, or at least Mrs Izumi is, I'm not so sure about Mr Ootori."_

_He looked down at me, "You are terrible you know that? How can you just tease me like that?"_

_I looked up at him innocently, "I'm sorry, what?"_

_A look came into his eyes as he plucked me easily up off my feet and practically growled into my ear, "You are such a liar." He carried me easily the rest of the way into the house, ignoring my protests between giggles. "Put me down Jay, what will the servants think?"_

_"Who cares what they think." he answered as he playfully nipped against the side of my neck. "I get to see my best friend again, I just realized that I can finally hold my head up when I do see her and not be afraid of feeling inferior to her husband and...I have a beautiful wife of my own."_

_He set me down on the floor as we got to the second floor of the house and kissed me almost roughly as we stumbled towards our room together._

* * *

"Thank you for bringing her home. I was beginning to worry."

Veronica bowed her head to Kyoya and smiled, who smiled stiffly back. "My pleasure."

She turned towards the line of servants waiting behind her. "Jonathan, please take my daughter up to her room."

"I don't mind taking her Mrs. Johari."

Veronica turned back to stare at Kyoya in surprise, but he was already halfway up the stairs, picking Shona up bridal style.

Veronica watched them for a moment before turning to Jonathan, "Am I missing something here?"

"They are together a lot. I assumed they were dating."

"Hmm. Which one is he again?"

"Kyoya Ohtori Madam."

"Ohtori? Huh, that's interesting."

"Begging your pardon, but interesting how Madam?"

Veronica looked away, "Don't you have work to do Jonathan?" She threw once last glance up the stairs, and turned, walking off in the other direction until only the sharp clicking of her heels on the cold marble floor could be heard.

* * *

Eight Years Later, Venice Italy

General Hospital

_A loud wail pierced the air. Soon after a door opened and a few nurses stepped out._

_"Mr Johari, you can come in now."_

_I looked up excitedly, and brushed past the nurses. "Where is she?"_

_One of the nurses stepped forwards and handed me something. I held that small warm bundle or blankets in my hands and looked down at my baby girl. She opened her eyes and cooed softly at me. Her eyes were exactly like mine. She was the only one of my children to have my eyes. She reached up with her small hands and touched me on the side of my face._

_I looked down at Veronica, who lay exhausted, hair spread like a halo over her pillow. "You name her." she said in a low voice, looking away. Her voice was cold and distant._

_I thought about it for a second, "Shonali" I finally decided, "her name will be Shonali."_

_I offered her to Veronica but she turned away. "I'm tired."_

_"You're still angry with me?"_

_"What do you think?"_

_"I said I'm sorry."_

_"Sorry for what? If you were still in love with her, why marry me? Why make me suffer along with you!"_

_I looked at Veronica in surprise. Her face had completely changed. She was sitting up, hair almost crackling with energy. Every feature was contorted with contempt and disgust._

_"Listen to me, you sick bastard. For the sake of your children and for the sake of this family, I'll keep up this charade with you. Also because in some twisted way, I still care for you even after all that you've put me through. However," she paused and glared at me even more angrily, "I promise to do everything in my power to make sure that our daughters doesn't turn out like you in any way. Even if I have to make them suffer. I'll carry this promise with me to the grave, Jay."_

_I looked silently down at her, too miserable to say anything. Shonali started to cry and struggled in her blankets._

_"One more thing, if I ever see you and that woman together again, I swear to God, I will find a way to kill both of you myself."_

_As I silently walked out of the room a few moments later, I found I couldn't answer any of the questions she had asked me. When had everything gone so wrong?_

_

* * *

_

_Tokyo, Japan. Izumi_

_He took away everything she had. One by one. First her family, then her passions, then her personality and finally her children. One by one, everything had disappeared as she tried to mold herself into what he wanted: the perfect wife. The empty, smiling shell that was the perfect woman, content to sit and smile along with her husband, never speaking unless spoken to, moving as silently as a night spirit. The children were perhaps the most painful to give up. When she had Fyumi, she had hoped he would let her keep her to herself, Fyumi was after all, only a girl. But no, she was to be raised to be the perfect woman and future wife. She too was taken away._

_It was during these years that Izumi felt herself growing cold. Nothing could warm her up, an unshakable fog developed around, not to be dissipated by the warmest fires or the brightest sun._

_A few years later, she found herself pregnant one last time. She pushed herself to survive, for a few more months at least, for the baby's sake. However, try as she might, the thoughts of suicide always came rushing back. Crawling into her brain like poisonous bugs._

_"Have you named him yet?" asked she asked_

_"No my dear. I suppose this time you may name him. He is our youngest after all. The third son."_

_She kissed the top of her baby's head. Yes. Her baby. She relished the sound of those words. He was the third son and therefore of no importance to her husband. He couldn't take away this baby like he had with her other children._

_Izumi was jolted out of her thoughts by a small figet and a sigh of discontent. When she next spoke, it was to an empty room. "Kyoya. I want to name my son Kyoya." Izumi smiled down at the tiny baby in my arms and sang softly "The peacocks in my heart dance to the beat..."_

* * *

The next morning Shonali woke up with a massive headache. "Ughh, what time is it?" she groaned, rolling over to gaze bleary eyed at her alarm clock.

It was already eight o'clock. Crap. Mother would be expecting me downstairs. She pulled herself out of bed and stood up, stretching.

Shonali looked around and realized she was still wearing her clothes from the previous day. She quickly changed into a black tank top and sweats, tying her hair up into a messy ponytail as she ran out of her room and down the stairs.

Shonali ran into the kitchen, where she found her mother and sister already seated at the table. Her mother gazed up cooly as Shonali came in and cocked an eyebrow. "You're late."

"I'm sorry mother." Shonali bowed in her head before sitting down across from her sister, on her mother's left side. She grabbed an apple from the pile of fruit in the center of the table and said evenly, "So... how was your time in hell?"

"So good, she brought a little back with her."

Shonali looked up at the sound of the unfamiliar male voice and saw a guy with olive skin, dark brown hair and sea green eyes, leaning against the door frame in the entrance to the kitchen. He was dressed in an ash grey Calvin Klein suit.

"Um." Shonali blinked, mind going completely blank for a minute.

"Darling, this is James, Mr. Rossi's son. You would have met him last week had you gone with me to Italy like I asked."

"Oh well, no harm done. I said I wanted to meet you. Whether I do it now or later is irrelevant." He walked around the table and kissed Shonali's hand. He smiled up at her from under his eyelashes charmingly. "It's nice to finally meet you, carina."

She quickly took her hand back, forcing a smile onto her face. "Likewise."

Her sister looked at Shonali over her cup of coffee, "Get dressed. We're going shopping."

"Hold on Priya. I have something to speak to Shonali about before you leave."

Priya sighed and looked away, speaking in a strained voice, "It can wait until later tonight mother. Please, as a favor to me?"

Veronica shot a sharp look at her eldest daughter, but relented. "Very well. Do as you wish."

* * *

An hour later

Shonali ducked into the passenger side of her sister's red ferrari. "What was that all about?"

Priya gave smiled at her baby sister, trying to keep the sadness off her face. She reached over and pressed a few stray hairs on the top of her head down. "Never you mind. Right now its me, you and five American Express cards."

Shonali laughed as Priya backed out of the driveway, "What put you in such a good mood? Don't tell me you finally got pregnant, Didi."

"Shona!"

* * *

A Few Hours Later

"Ohh! This is pretty!" Priya held up a dark red silky strapless dress, which flared out slightly at the waist and had a black ribbon tied around it.

"This is also, $3,000." replied Shonali, holding up the price tag. "What do I need another dress for?"

Priya gasped dramatically. "What do you need another dress for? Are you sure that you're my sister? Imagine a relative of mine, a blood relative no less, questioning the need for a new dress!" She looked away pretending to be insulted. "You can never have too many dresses." She paused and looked sideways at a bemused Shonali. "Besides you'll need a new dress for tonight."

Shonali looked away from a black Louis Vuitton bag, "Tonight? What's tonight?"

"Oh, just a little party Mother's throwing together to welcome James."

Shonali nodded and continued to search through the racks of clothing. "Oh."

Suddenly Priya grabbed her arm and dragged her behind a shelf of bags. "Listen, do you think you could make some excuse to avoid the party tonight?"

"What? Why?" Shonali looked at the serious expression on her sister's face in alarm. "What's going on?"

Priya' grip on her arm tightened. "I just don't want the same thing that happened to me to happen to you. I can't stand just watching and not doing anything about it." She sighed in frustration and released Shonali's arm. "Okay. You know what? Forget what I said. Go to the party tonight. It's going to happen sometime or other."

"Priya, what are you talking about? I don't understand."

Priya turned away and grabbed the red dress from before, turning back to Shonali with a bright, fake smile that seemed to be a trait of all Johari women. "Go try this on will you?"

* * *

Tamaki and Haruhi

Tamaki groaned a little as he came into the kitchen in the apartment he and Haruhi shared together. He found his girlfriend, pouring over her math textbooks, cup or instant coffee in hand.

"Good morning my princess. How did you sleep last night?"

Haruhi shot a glare at Tamaki, "Shut up its too early to put with your crap and I'm still hungover from yesterday." She held her head in her hands for a second, " I knew people that know how to get fake IDs shouldn't be trusted."

Tamaki chuckled as he poured himself a cup of coffee too. "Speaking of Caroline, what do you suppose happened with her and Hikaru? Kaoru called this morning asking if we'd seen them."

Haruhi shrugged. "I'm sure Hikaru wouldn't do anything too stupid." She looked across the table at Tamaki, "But I'm worried about Kaoru. I think Hikaru likes Caroline but I don't know how Kaoru's going to react if the two of them ever decided to go out."

"He did sound a little...how do they say...uhhh '_freaked out?'_ on the phone."

"Maybe I should go talk to him."

Tamaki nodded, "That's probably a good idea."

She looked at Tamaki, "And what about _your _best friend? Where was he last night?"

Tamaki looked a little uncomfortable. "I'd go over and check but you know how Kyoya is in the morning. I-I'm still shaking from the last time I tried to wake him up this early."

Haruhi smirked. "Coward." She took a sip of her coffee and waited a few moments before speaking again. "I know what you're thinking Tamaki and I wouldn't do it if I were you."

Tamaki looked up at her with an innocent, questioning look on his face. Haruhi rolled her eyes.

"Just let them take their time. If it's meant to be, it'll happen."

"But Haruhi. This is the first time he's actually acted like a...human being around a girl. Normally he's so distant and cold. I mean other than with you, he's never really been nice to girls or smiled the way he does with Shona-chan."

"Yeah. It is kind of weird how they got to like each other so fast. The way they act, you'd think they've known each other for years." Haruhi looked contemplative for a second. "Maybe it has something to do with their parents being friends."

Tamaki sat up in his chair and looked curiously down at the brunette, "What do you mean."

"Call me crazy but I think maybe some friendships transcend lifetimes...at least, that't what my mom used to say."

Tamaki's eyes softened for an instant as he looked at Haruhi and then-

"Oh Haruhi, you're just so CUTE! I could just pick you up and cuddle you like a giant teddy bear! DADDY'S LITTLE ANGEL! "

"HEY SENPAI, DON'T TOUCH ME THERE! EEEEP NO, WAIT, STOP!"

* * *

Kyoya

Kyoya felt the bright sunlight on his face and slowly cracked one eye open. Morning. He pulled the covers further over his head trying to block out the light, feeling throughly irritated. He tried for a few minutes to go back to sleep but found it to be impossible. Finally he rolled out of bed in frustration and made his way to the bathroom. He let the cool water from the tap pool into his finger before splashing some onto his face. He sighed and leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes and trying to block out last night. But, the more he tried to more frustrated he felt. Why was he so angry anyway? She didn't even matter to him. She was just some silly girl, with strange ideas.

_"A silly girl...with beautiful hazel eyes and a warm smile."_ He shook his head to clear these thoughts away but was unable to stop himself from mentally adding _"and tiny hands."_

* * *

_flashback to previous night_

Kyoya lay Shonali carefully down on her bed, covering her with a nearby purple blanket. He turned to go, when he felt hands on his collar tugging him back and a soft voice spoke, "Hey."

He looked down and saw Shona looking up at him sleepily. "Thank you." She released her grip on him.

He nodded, unable to speak and went out the door back into the hallway. At first he didn't notice the boy standing beside the door, but then he spoke. "Are you a friend of Miss Johari's?"

A boy with dark brown hair stood next to him. Kyoya noticed he had a slight accent, similar to Shonali's mother's. The boy continued, "are you her boyfriend?" He paused and looked at Kyoya curiously, "Actually, no. I don't care who you are. Just stay away from my fiancee."

As he walked away, Kyoya looked after him, _"Fiancee?" _But he decided he was too tired to know of care what the boy was talking about. Still...why did his face look so familiar?"

* * *

_Shonali_

"What? Mother please, you can't do this to me!"

"Shonali this is for your own good. You are eighteen and need to start acting your age. You're one of the heiresses to a very large estate and its time you started taking on more responsibilities. This is the only way to do that!"

"But why?" Shonali cried, tearing streaming down her face. "Why don't you just want me to be happy? I'm too young to get married!"

Veronica looked away from her daughter. "Starting Monday, after accepting James' proposal, you will be formally quitting the Performing Arts Club. I talked to the school board and they've agreed to let you take your exams early so you can finish with high school sooner and move on to becoming a proper wife."

"Mother..." Shonali crawled weakly towards her mother and sat at her feet, taking up one of her hands, "Mommy please. D-don't do this. P-lease."

Veronica gazed coldly down at her daughter. "My decision is final." She snatched her hand back out of Shonali's grip and walked calmly out of the room, saying as she left, "Now get dressed. Our guests should be here in soon."

As soon as the door closed behind her, Shonali let out a little yelp of pain and collapsed onto the floor completely, sobbing violently. Priya rushed over for the corner of the room she had been standing in and tried to pick her up and put her arms around her sister but Shonali kept brushing her arms off, sobbing hysterically as she cried, "W-what did I ever do t-to d-deserve this?"

Priya stroked her back, "Sshhhh baby I know, I know."

"I can't give up dancing Priya, I can't."

"It'll be okay."

Shonali looked up at her sister with wide tear filled eyes and patted her chest. She whimpered softly and lay her head down in Priya's lap, "It hurts...it hurts so much." She patted her chest again, just over the place where her heart was. "It hurts Priya...help me...please help me."

Priya could only watch helplessly as he little sister sobbed in her lap, looking as if her heart were being shattering into tiny little pieces, holding herself around her middle as if she would fall apart.

"P-p-please Didi, help m-me."

* * *

_The free bird leaps_

_on the back of the wind_

_and floats downstream_

_till the current ends_

_and dips his wings_

_in the orange sun rays_

_and dares to claim the sky._

I took a deep breath as I walked to my mother's side. "_Just don't think about it. Don't think about it. Don't think about it."_ I repeated to myself like a mantra.

My mother stood up at the head of the room, and called for everyone's attention. There were over 300 people here, a mix of our family friends and the Rossi's friends. _"This is just a few people?" _I thought. Panic began to set in the moment I thought this, so I resumed repeating my mantra,_ "Don't think, don't think, don't think."_

_But a bird that stalks_

_down his narrow cage_

_can seldom see through_

_his bars of rage_

_his wings are clipped and_

_his feet are tied_

_so he opens his throat to sing._

James came and stood on her other side. "You are all no doubt wondering why you have been called here on such short notice." As she spoke, she took my hand and moved me closer to James. "I have the extreme pleasure to announce the engagement between my daughter and this fine young man here." She smiled at James, who took my hand and pulled me to his side, wrapping an arm around my waist. There were a few girls near us who sighed longingly. I pushed all my thoughts to the back of my head once more and slowly worked to place the mask I had been working on, back onto my face. I smiled graciously at everyone and bowed and nodded my head, just as was expected of a rich man's bride. James knelt and pulled a diamond ring from his pocket and gingerly placed it on my left hand before kissing it softly.

_The caged bird sings_

_with fearful trill_

_of the things unknown_

_but longed for still_

_and his tune is heard_

_on the distant hill for the caged bird_

_sings of freedom_

I smiled down at him, all the while repeating to myself, "_Don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think about it."_

Soon after, people came up to us one by one to congratulate us. It became easier not to think, my mind was too wrapped up in smiling and remember everyone's names. James kept his arm around my waist the entire time and once or twice he would kiss me on the cheek.

_The free bird thinks of another breeze_

_and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees_

_and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn_

_and he names the sky his own._

Everyone left by midnight, except for the usual few stragglers. I said goodnight to my mother, sister and her husband, who had shown up halfway through the night, and climbed up the stairs to my room. I was just about to open the door when suddenly a strong pair of hands grabbed me around the waist and pulled me back into another, empty hallway. I turned around and saw James.

"Is there a problem?" I asked calmly, trying to restrain my anger. He was the cause of all of this.

He smiled at me sweetly and lifted my chin to meet his sea green gaze. "Do you know that I've loved you ever since I first saw you? December 9, two years ago my dad brought home a picture of one of the girls of his business partners. That girl was you." He paused, looking away and reaching into his pocket for something. He pulled out his wallet and reached inside, taking out a rumpled photo. He offered it to me.

I glanced at it and saw that it was me in my cheerleading uniform the day after we had one our very first national competition. Also the day I agreed to join the performing arts club to take over the dance department. I don't remember ever looking that happy.

He looked at the picture once himself and smiled. "I dreamed of the day I would get to meet you." He crushed the picture in his hand and tossed it over his shoulder. "Well, I don't I'll be needing that anymore." He looked back at me and pushed me back against the wall, pressing our bodies together, holding me close at the waist. "Now I have the real thing."

_But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams_

_his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream_

_his wings are clipped and his feet are tied_

_so he opens his throat to sing_

When he kissed me, I tried hard not to cry. I tried to be like the person my mother expected me to be. The perfect lady, the perfect fiancee. I tried not to cry when he pushed me into his room and I didn't even resist when he pulled me into his bed. Or maybe I did because as his hands travelled up my legs and toyed with the edge of my panties he whispered "Remember, you're mine now." I tried not the think as I felt his hands and his lips touching me everywhere. I tried not to hate myself when my body still betrayed me despite my best efforts, when he sat up and pulled me onto his lap, pushing his way into me. I tried not to, but I still hated myself. It hated how my back arched just a little, how I pulled him closer as he kissed my breasts and most of all I hated how even though I tried not to, I moaned little once or twice. I tried not to cry throughout the entire night even though I really wanted to crawl into a hole and die. I tried not to cry.

_The caged bird sings_

_with a fearful trill_

_of things unknown_

_but longed for still_

_and his tune is heard_

_on the distant hill _

_for the caged bird __sings of freedom._

Nonetheless, a few tears did manage to escape in the end.

* * *

**Pleeeeaaase remember to review as always :) Anyhoo, I'm sorry I was a little late, but I had writers block. I'm not sure what to do with the story yet. I have a general idea of where I'm going to go with it, but I'm still trying to iron out the details.**

**But I feel like I should clarify a few points:**

**1.) Are Kyoya and Shonali in love with each other?**

**NO, Kyoya and Shonali are NOT in love with each other. It's too soon. BUT, they are attracted to each other in a way that neither of them can understand. That's what I spent this entire chapter trying to explain. I'm a firm believer in friendships lasting over lifetimes and what's going on between them can be possibly explained by their parents' relationship. (Her dad and his mom.)**

**Kyoya is still in love with Haruhi. Remember, this story is just an extention of their life after the manga finishes and I think that in the manga, Kyoya, no matter how much he denied it when Hunny asked, was in love with Haruhi. **

**Shonali on the other hand, doesn't believe in love. Or at least that's what she tells herself. She's one of those people that try to act calm and cool on the outside and bottle up all thier emotions even though really they're like scared little children on the inside. You can see this side of her in the last part of this chapter. Maybe it's also the way she was raised: She's been taught that a woman must be subserviant to a man in all aspects of life and that a woman has no rights to herself once people think she belongs to a man. It might sound crude and old fashioned, but don't forget that she's been living in all parts of the world and you'd be surprised to find in just how many areas this kind of thinking exists. So, of course she's terrified of marriage or commitement.**

**Anyway, my whole point is, Kyoya and Shonali really can't be together until they can sort through all of their muddled up feelings. Plus there are a couple of other problems coming. I am SO not going to make this easy for them.**

**2.) What about Caroline and Hikaru?**

**YES! Caroline and Hikaru definitley have a thing going on. I already have a couple of really cute scenes written for them. But, the problem with them will be trying to get Caroline to settle down.**

**3.) Any other couples?**

**Another resounding YES! I'm not going to say exactly who, but I did leave a few hints and also if you think about it their personalities are vaguely similar. They're both gentle and kind. That's all I'm going to say about that!**

**4.) What's up with Shonali's mom?**

**She's not a bad person, just a person with a messed up past. Feeling unloved can do terrible things to a person.**

**You're probably bored of me talking now, so I'll go :) Next update will be sometime next weekend. (Fingers crossed)**

**-KMN**

**(p.s sorry for all the grammar errors. i never have time to edit my work carefully and frankly sometimes i get so sick of reading a chapter over and over again that i'm too tired to look for mistakes)**


	9. Marry You

**Ughhh, writers block. It sucks. This was the most painful chapter I've ever had to write. It just wouldn't come out the way I wanted it too and I must've changed it a million times. I'm still no where near satisfied with it but whatever. T_T Anyways, sorry for being away for so long. I'll do my best to update regularly from now on. (Still sticking to the weekend thing.) I'm working on an entirely Briteny themed chapter right now and I think I want Chapter 10 to focus on someone other that Shonali. Either Caroline or Delilah. Anyways, I've rambled on enough. **

**Enjoy!**

**Songs:**

**Marry You**

**Teenage Dream**

**Just The Way You Are**

**(The Glee version of these songs are my favorites, even more than the orginals.)**

* * *

Shonali

"Come on Shonali, pull yourself together!"

I looked at myself in mirror, trying to will myself into coming out of the bathroom, despite knowing what would face me on the other side.

"Carina, are you ready to go?"

"Darling come on out of there already, you've made the poor boy wait for over half an hour now."

I cringed lightly when I heard their voices.

"Please, please, please let this all be a horrible dream." I whispered, closing my eyes tightly trying to block everything out. I leaned forward against the sink, resting my forehead against the cool surface of the mirror and took a deep breath. "Okay. Calm down and lets think this through."

Was there anyway to get out of this marriage in the first place?

No. Nothing short of running away would prevent it, and there was no way I would do something so stupid. Besides, even if I did run away, my mother could easily find me. I wasn't smart enough to outrun the best private investigators money could buy.

I had never felt so trapped in my entire life. Panic began to set in as I let my situation settle in my mind. I let it fill me for a second before slowly fighting it back and pushing it to the back of my head. I couldn't do this right now. I needed to think.

I took another deep breath, releasing it slowly while mentally counting to ten. I forced myself to think of the other option, no matter how repugnant. Okay, so that meant I'd have to find a way to make the rest of my life stay as normal as possible after I married James. That meant there was no way I was going to give up dance or my future career just to become a housewife. I had to suppress a shudder at this point. The very thought of it was enough to make my skin crawl. I wanted to dance, I wanted to travel the world. I didn't want to end up married at eighteen and pregnant at nineteen.

Children.

Oh God. My heart nearly stopped. I numbly felt around for the sink tap, and struggled to turn it for a second. I instant I felt the ice cold water running down my hand, I relaxed a little. I let it pool into my cupped hands and splashed some onto my face. As much as I didn't want it to be, this was my future. I had to accept that.

My mom would be beyond persuading on the whole career or dance issue. I knew that. She was stubborn. But so was I. So that meant...that meant if I couldn't get to my mother I'd have to get to James somehow. I couldn't just talk to him about it though. I knew his type, he would probably side with my mother on this one. Stupid chauvinistic pig.

What should I do?

I thought until my head began to ache. I heard my mother's voice outside my door again. I could tell she was getting impatient. I groaned and grabbed my bag from the floor, "I'm coming" I forced myself to answer through gritted teeth. I straightened out the front of my dress. I decided not to the think about it anymore. I still had to tell my friends about this whole mess. I turned the door knob, shakily as I imagined Rachel's reaction.

On second thought, maybe I should wait.

* * *

Arts Club

"Wait. wait! No, I got this whole new idea! We should re-design the set entirely. Lets make it a dirty alleyway: dim lighting, debris, fog, the works."

"Rachel. Shonali would kill you." Caroline interjected. "The theme of the performance is the Queens of Pop and we were thinking more along the lines of Katy Perry or Spice Girls...dirty alleyway makes for Christina and Briteny and we all know the entire speech Shonali would give about how they objectify women and we shouldn't buy into it and how we should be judged on talent, not tits blah blah blah." Caroline rolled her eyes and buried her head back in her magazine, leaning back against Hikaru's shoulder. "Personally, I don't mind being objectified. It's totally a huge turn on."

Hikaru jumped about a foot in the air, looking a little terrified of the red head cuddled up next to him.

" Although, come to think of it Shona would make a great Briteny, they both look like pin up dolls." Everyone turned and looked at Delilah in surprise, who looked up from the pineapple lilly she was watering and blinked innocently. "What?"

Jackson just shook his head and continued. "If we changed the performance, wouldn't that put a strain on our practice time for the Arts festival? And I don think Jason could redesign all of the costumes in time..."

"If we did Brittany or Christina, there wouldn't be much to design any way would there?" added Jason wryly.

"Ummm...this might not be the best time to bring it up, but the championship game for football is scheduled the week of the festival. I'm not going to be able to make it to practice."

"What?" Rachel jumped up from her place beside Matt on the couch and stared down at him in shock. "What do you mean you're not going to be able to make it?"

Delilah sighed and sat down across from Kyoya, "Here we go..."

"Ray," Matt took Rachel's hand in his, "I can't do this and practice for the big game. You know I love this club but football comes first."

Rachel pulled her hand from his grip. "What do you mean you can't do both? The festival's in the morning, the game is in the afternoon. Look at Shonali and Delilah, they're going to cheer practice and the club's practice and they have just as much invested in this game as you do."

Matt stood up too, "Look, no offense, but they're just cheerleaders. Ballerina's that jump ridiculously high. They've got it easy."

"Ballerina's that are about to kick you're ass." Shonali walked in just then in her uniform, smirk crossing her face. "Don't stay in denial Matt, our half time show is the reason so many people come to watch your crappy game."

"People or perverts that just like to see girls in... very short skirts?" asked Kyoya eyeing the tiny red miniskirt she wore.

Shonali bit her lip, trying to hide her smile, turning to Rachel instead, "When did they change the schedule though? The festival was supposed to be the week after the game?"

"They made an announcement this morning. Something about conflicting interests."

"Conflicting interests. Huh, is that so." Shonali looked pensive for a moment but then she smiled. "Well, I was just heading to practice anyways. I need to change our routine a bit. " She adjusted her school bag on her shoulder. "I should get going."

"Wait, I'll come with you." Haruhi spoke up. She reached for her own bag and stood up. "Tamaki ran off with Mori and Hunny awhile ago and I don't really want to walk to class alone."

Shonali looked confused, but nodded. "Okay. Sure."

Kyoya shot Haruhi a quizzical look as she walked after Shonali, but she just shook her head infinitesimally and mouthed, "Not now".

They walked in silence until they reached the end of the hallway leading to the Club room. Haruhi quickly grabbed Shonali's arm and yanked her into a nearby, empty classroom, ignoring her protests.

"What's on your hand?"

Shonali looked down at the ring on her left hand and felt her blood run cold. "Nothing. It's just a ring." Her voice was calm but Haruhi's quick eyes saw her stiffen the slightest bit.

"Just a ring? That looks like its could be 24 carats at least. I'm thinking Tiffany's."

Shonali sweat dropped. "How do you know all this?"

Haruhi, shrugged "When you're around a bunch of rich snobs all the time, one tends to pick up a few things. But don't change the subject."

Shonali sighed. "Look. I didn't have a choice. My mom forced me into this engagement. So far, no one outside of my family and..." Shonali struggled for a second, "my... fiancee's family know about this. I'd like to keep it that way for awhile. I need to figure things out." She looked down at Haruhi "I didn't have a choice." she repeated.

"There's always a choice."

"No. There isn't." Shonali looked angry for a minute. "This is why I didn't want to tell anyone. You of all people wouldn't understand!" Her shoulders suddenly slumped and she looked defeated. "You just don't understand, how lucky you are Haruhi. You don't understand how much I envy you."

Haruhi cocked her head quizzically.

"You're free." Shonali explained, longing filling her hazel eyes. "And that's all I've ever wanted to be."

* * *

Rachel

"Matt! Matt, please wait just listen to me."

"Rachel, look you know how I feel about this. I'm not going to change my mind."

Rachel brushed her ash blonde hair out of her eyes, out of breath from running after Matt who had rushed off shortly after Shonali and Haruhi left. They now stood on the grassy football field, surrounded by football players and cheerleaders who were doing their warm ups under the gray cloudy skies.

"Yes Matt. I do know how you feel, but you don't understand how I feel. I get it, football is your life. The arts club is just extra credit that'll help you get into a good sports university. I know." She looked up at him, blue gaze meeting his. "But I'm tired of always being second place to it."

"What are you talking about? You're not second pla-"

She held up her hand to stop him. "Let me finish. I've understood whenever you've blown off our dates because you had practice, or when you missed my birthday party because it was the same night as opening season and even when you forgot about our anniversary because you stayed up all night making plays for practice the next day. I understood and I stuck by you for doing what you love. I even gave up playing Hermia in our production of Midsummer Night's Dream last year because it was on the same day that as the finals and I wanted to be there to comfort you if you lost and celebrate with you if you won. But the Arts club is what I love. I've worked so hard all year for the days leading up to this festival. Next to performing in Sectionals in July, it is the most important day for us. There will be recruiters from all sorts of universities coming to the event, a lot of our futures are on the line here. You can't just throw all that hard work away. I need you to be there Matt. I need you to understand how I feel about this because if you turn your back on us now, it means that you're turning your back on me too."

Matt laughed nervously, "Why does this sound like some sort of ultimatum?"

"Good. You got my point. That's exactly what this is." Rachel turned on her heels and walked off in the other direction.

She ignored Matt's voice as he called after her, breaking into a run. She reached the doors leading into the school and yanked them open, nearly crashing into Jackson.

"I'm sorry," she quickly apologized, eyes on the ground. She would have walked away but Jackson grabbed her arm and stopped her. He held up a cup of coffee and a huge snickers bar, grinning he said, "Just call me your personal firefighter. You need comfort food right now."

Rachel actually managed to crack a smile. She reached up and kissed him on the cheek as she took the coffee and the candy. "Thanks. You always know what to say."

Jackson pulled her arm through his. "I know. What would you ever do without me?"

* * *

Host Club

"Tama chan...even by you're standards this is pretty crazy."

Kaoru eyed the box of firecrackers. "I'm not sure how she's going to take this."

Tamaki looked up and his three friends and said with a surprising amount of calmness. "Two years ago, exactly on this day, is the first time we met Haruhi." But it quickly deteriorated into his usual over the time flamboyance. "The first time I laid eyes on her precious little head. It was practically DESTINY that we fall in love. Of course I had to do something to celebrate this momentous occasion!"

"Fireworks. Is that it?" Asked Hunny picked up a particularly large purple one from the box.

"Fireworks and I asked Rachel and Shonali to do a little something for me too..."

"What?"

"You'll see."

Kaoru wrinkled his nose, "Ah hopeless romantics. They make me want to vomit."

* * *

Haruhi

"And I know that she's the one who got them to rearrange the dates of the game and the Arts Festival. She likes to play mind games."

"So...what're you going to do?" asked Haruhi.

The two sat across from each other on top of two desks, legs dangling off the edge.

"I don't know. I really don't want to quit but..."

"Okay, so get James to convince your mom to let you stay. You're mom's the traditional type right. The kind of woman who believes the husband and the family have all the control in a marriage?"

"Unfortunately." She paused. "I had thought about that, but how should I do it?"

Haruhi looked at Shonali in surprise. "Are you sure, you haven't thought of anything?"

Shonali looked at the cute little brunette. "Yeah, why?"

"Shona chan, if James is anything like Tamaki, he thinks with his penis and its not very bright."

Shonali froze and then slapped her forehead. "Oh my god, DUH, what was I thinking?" She turned and looked at Haruhi, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "My dear you would make even Cleopatra proud." She hopped of the desk. "Things still suck, but if I can keep dance, it might not be so bad right? Thank you Haruhi." She managed a smile, her first genuine one in over a day. "I've got to get to practice. I'll see you later, okay?" she called over her shoulder and she dashed out of the room.

"Remind me never to have anything she wants. I don't think I'd be strong enough to resist."

Haruhi looked over her shoulder, startled.

"Kyoya senpai? How long were you here?"

Kyoya was leaning against the doorway on the far left, across the room from where Shonali had left. "Long enough." He said evenly waiting for Haruhi to gather her things and reach where he stood. "I should have know that you would've picked up it too."

"It was a pretty big diamond senpai, fairly hard to miss."

They were silent for a moment as they began walking towards class. "I've met him, her fiancee I mean."

"When?"

"Friday. She was so drunk that I had to carry her home. I saw him when I left her room."

"You were in her room?"

"She was drunk" he repeated. "Why Haruhi, are you afraid that I would've done something?" He smirked, amused.

"Ordinarily no. In the two years that I've known you, I've never seen you look twice at a girl, even at the Host Club. But Shona chan is different." They stopped just outside of Haruhi's classroom and she smiled faintly, looking up into his surprised gray eyes, "Maybe you finally saw the merit in it."

She quickly opened the door and disappeared inside, leaving Kyoya standing outside. He smiled softly, _"No, the first time I saw it was two years ago."_

* * *

Shonali

I found James sitting on the edge of his bed, going through some papers.

"Can I come in?"

He looked up and smiled "Well I generally make it a rule not to let beautiful girls wearing next to nothing come into my room, but for you I will make an exception."

I walked over and sat down beside him. "So, you're going back to Italy?"

"Yes. The wedding's in a year and I would like to finish school."

"You know, there's really no reason to rush this."

He looked at me side ways, "Really, is that what you think?" The next few seconds was a blur as I suddenly found myself pressed back against bed with James on top. "I've loved you since the first time I saw your picture. I can't wait anymore." he whispered in my ear, softly kissing down my neck, stopping just above my collar bone. "Even a year seems to long."

"There's a difference between love and lust."

He didn't reply as his hands moved to my waist, so I put my hands on his chest and pushed him off of me and onto his back. I placed one leg on either side of him and leaned down to kiss him.

"Pinch me, I'm dreaming." he said laughing distractedly as I continued to kiss down his jawline.

"So listen, I have a favor to ask you." I whispered against his skin.

"What is it?"

I sat up, and pulled off my shirt, watching his eyes travel downward. Like shooting fish in a barrel. "So, you know how I'm the Arts club right?"

His eyes were still focused on my chest. "Mmhmm, with that short blonde girl right?"

"Mom wants me to quit because she wants me to be a good wife but I don't really think that's fair, do you?" I ran my hands up the smooth muscle of his stomach, "If I'm not in the Arts Club, I'll be unhappy and you wouldn't want your fiancee to be unhappy would you?"

"No, but there really isn't that much I can do..."

I unhooked my bra and tossed to it one side, watching him choke a little. "Please, at least talk to her." I let my hand travel a little farther down, until I was playing with his belt buckle. "For me?"

I could practically see the blood leave his face and travel down his body to certain parts which stiffened between my legs.

Idiot.

"F-fine." He sat up suddenly, wrapping his arms around me, pulling me close so that I could feel him pressed against every contour of my body, our faces inches apart. "I'll talk to her. I'll make sure she lets you do whatever you want to, but don't forget, you're mine. So you make sure you where that wedding ring all the time when I'm gone. I've seen the way guys look at you when you dance and I think you'll come to find that I'm a pretty jealous guy."

I looked into his green eyes, feeling disgusted but I leaned closer instead, "Fine."

He kissed me but the minute I felt his arms loosen, I pulled away and grabbed my shirt, pulling it over my head. "I should go, I just remembered that I have Cheer practice." I walked quickly to the door, waving over my shoulder, "See ya."

James groaned and collapsed back onto the bed as the door closed behind her. His entire room smelled like her perfume. "How can one person be so desirable? She drives me completely insane. Mio dio..."

* * *

Kyoya

Kyoya found Shonali in the McKinnley's gym that was reserved for just the cheerleaders. The others had left an hour ago, but she had staid, choosing to work on her floor work rather than go back home. He watched her neatly complete each flip and cartwheel, never deviating even the slightest inch from the solid white line drawn down the center of the blue mats.

"I've never seen you look so focused before."

She turned, looking startled but then relaxed into an easy smile. "Yeah well, the football finals are in a week, I need to be perfect for the half time show." She walked over and sat beside Kyoya on the bleachers.

"Honestly, if that's what you're going to wear don't think anyone's going to care what you do. They'll be too preoccupied looking at your-"

Shonali smacked him on the back of the head. "Grow up."

He laughed shaking his head in disbelief. "Only you would've done that."

"You don't scare me Kyoya," she said shrugging.

He smiled and they fell silent.

"When-?"

"Next year."

They turned and looked at each other, silently understanding. She sighed, turning away. "It's no surprise really. I knew it was going to happen sooner or later." She paused and smiled lightly at Kyoya, "What about you? Has your dad tried to get you to meet any 'nice girls.' Akito's already married, you're next. "

Kyoya rolled his eyes, "Please, he's been trying since I was five. And why do you say 'you're next' like its some kind serial killer out to get me."

"That's because that's exactly what marriage is. Maybe its different for men but you'd still have the same expectation to have children at some point and can you honestly tell me that the thought of sleeping with a total stranger you might not even like doesn't scare you a little?"

"I wouldn't really care one way or the other as long as its someone who'll bring merit to the Ootori family."

"Typical."

"Don't tell me you believe in all that sentimental rubbish about loving the one you get married to."

"Ordinarily I would've said no, but now I'm not so sure. I think marriage to someone who you don't love isn't really marriage. It's more like a...business deal. It's sort of like more prestige for your family in exchange for male heirs. But eventually it'll grow cold and meaningless because the terms have already been met. However, a marriage between two people that love each other is a longterm partnership of sorts." She stopped talking and shook her head as if to get rid of some thought from her head. "I'm being silly."

Kyoya looked at the raven haired girl beside him and smiled, "No. I see what you're getting at." He paused and looked thoughtful for a moment. "I agree getting married to someone you love must be better than not, but not everyone gets that chance. The rest of us, excuse the crude expression, just have to make do with what we have."

Shonali nodded. "That's a pretty bleak outlook."

"I'm curious, so are you the type to believe in soul mates?"

Shonali bit her lip and thought about it for a second before replying in three simple words. "Tamaki and Haruhi."

"I'm sorry?"

Shonali looked up into his grey eyes, filled with confusion, "Until I met them, I didn't. But now...I have to accept that some people are just made for each other."

Kyoya found himself unable to look away from her warm hazel gaze, reminded of another pair of dark chocolate ones, both so similar but not quite the same. "Have you found him then, you're soulmate?"

She smiled "Yes." In a flash she was off the bleachers and cartwheeling and flipping her way up and down blue mats in a way that was almost unhuman. She reached the far wall and came all the way back in a similar fashion, stopping neatly a foot from where an extremely surprised Kyoya sat, smiling broadly at him, "_This _is my soulmate." She sat down again. "I could never love person as much as I love dance, my heart wouldn't be able to take it."

Kyoya laughed in complete disbelief. "You're a very fascinating person Shonali." But then he was serious again, "But suppose you did meet someone who you would give up dance for?"

The smile slowly faded from her face as she looked back at Kyoya, "Well, I hope I meet him soon before I make the biggest mistake of my life."

"If you're so confident it's a mistake, why do it?"

" Why ask a question you already know the answer to?"

They stared at each other, each trying to understand what was going through the other's mind. That's when Kyoya noticed for the first time that Shonali was trembling a little. Then without knowing why he did it, or before he could think about it, he reached out and pulled her to him wrapping his arms around her. Suddenly he understood just how terrified she was, how under all her laughter and smiles she was desperately clinging to something at was being torn away from her, crying for someone to help her. The meaning behind all her words suddenly came crashing down around him and he _understood_. For the first time in his life, he Kyoya Ootori felt compassion for someone else.

Shonali stiffened a little at first, but then relaxed and let her head rest on his shoulder. It the first time she didn't try to fight the tears that rolled down her cheeks or try to be strong. He knew. He knew. He_ knew._

"I don't want this."

"I know."

"I'm not ready."

"I know."

"I can't go through with it."

"I know."

"But I have no choice."

A pause.

"I know."

* * *

Arts Club

Rachel, Matt, Jackson and Jason, Delilah and Caroline sat together in the school's library.

"Why hasn't she told us yet?" asked Rachel putting her head in her hands. "I found out from Haruhi. _Haruhi _who's only known her for two months."

"Maybe she's not ready. Marriage is kind of a big deal." said Matt slowly.

"But that doesn't mean she has to hide it from us! She knows she has to tell us sooner or later and my heart is breaking at the thought of her having to go through this alone." Rachel shot back.

Caroline looked grim, "She's leaving us."

"What?" asked Delilah, eyebrows knitting together.

Caroline looked up at the five pairs of eyes focused on her. "Do you really think her mom would let her stay in the Club after she's married? She already disapproves of what we do when Shonali's single, a married woman acting like that would definitely be unacceptable. She's not telling us because she knows as soon as she does she has to accept reality. She's trying to let things stay the same for as long as possible."

"I really hate her mom. What kind of twisted person would make their child suffer like that?" asked Jason, looking throughly upset.

Rachel let out a deep breath. "Everyone get in my car, I have a plan." She stood up. "We're going to pay a little visit to Shona's dear mother."

* * *

Haruhi

"Tamaki, I'm back! Senpai?"

Haruhi stepped through the door of her apartment and looked around for Tamaki. "That's strange he's usually here by now." she said putting her bag down on the ground. "Maybe he finally went back to his own apartment."

She went into the kitchen and opened the fridge to our herself a glass of juice only to notice that the entire contents of it were gone. A folded noted lay there instead with a single red rose enclosed.

Haruhi felt a small smiled appear on her face and she picked up the note and read it. _"Go to your room." _

She put the note and the rose on the table and walked curiously over to her bedroom and opened the door. On top of her bed lay another note and rose, this time on top of a small package. She opened the second note and read: "Wear this and then come outside."

She placed the second note and rose to one side and gingerly tore through the delicate gold tissue the package was wrapped in. Her fingers connected with delicate chiffon and silk. It was a pink dress.

"_That idiot."_ She thought, as she looked at it, smile growing larger by the second.

Half an hour later she was dressed and ready to go. She descended opened the door that led out to the balcony in front of her was pitch dark and the street was only illuminated by a few street lamps. There was a white limo parked outside. As she approached, the driver stepped forward and handed her another note and a rose. "Don't keep me waiting."

Haurhi laughed outright at this and let the driver seat her inside. "What is that idiot up to?"

A few minutes later they stopped in front of an unfamiliar building. It was so dark that she couldn't see more than a few inches in front of her. The driver opened the door and she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her, pulling her from the limo and a cool voice say, "Thank you, I'll take it from here."

"Kyoya senpai," she asked in surprise. "What's going on?"

The older boy didn't reply, instead taking her hand and leading her into the building and patiently pulling her up a flight of stairs until the reached a door, above with was a red exit sign. In the dim red light she could just barely see his face, as he looked down her, small smirk playing around his lips. "I'm happy for you Haruhi. That moron really loves you." In one smooth gesture he opened the door and pushed her out into the warm night air. The door closed immediately behind her.

Suddenly everything burst into color and sound. She realized she was standing on the roof top of the building. There were trees and flowers everywhere even vines creeping up the walls and each and every last thing there was wrapped in white lights. It glittered like something out of a dream. There were about fifty other people there, mostly couples. Eating, drinking and laughing. At first she felt confused, until she saw a few feet in front of her was a table with a simple white cloth. On it was a single red rose. There were two chairs, one empty and one occupied by...

"Tamaki."

The blonde, dressed in a white tux, smiled at her and stood, bowing formally, "I'm glad you made it princess."

He reached out a hand to her and she silently took it. Tamaki pulled Haruhi to him and kissed her on top of the forehead. "What's all this for?" she asked smiling up at him.

He pulled out her chair for her and waited for her to sit own before answering.

"Two years ago on this very day, you first came into my life and Haruhi, I can't tell you how much you've changed it or how important you are to me. That's why I'm trying to show you rather than tell you."

She smiled "I don't know what to say."

"Say you want fancy tuna. We need to order." said Tamaki smiling and indicating the waitress that stood behind her. Haruhi quickly ordered what she wanted, without looking up until the waitress said "Thank you" and walked off. Haruhi looked up at her retreating back. Blonde hair.

"That sounded like Rachel"

"You're being silly, why would she be here?" said Tamaki suppressing a smile.

"A-and that...t-hat looks like Delilah!" she said pointing at another waitress who stood with her back towards them, talking to another young couple.

"You're just seeing things my dear."

Haruhi looked unconvinced but nodded and turned back towards Tamaki. They talked for a few minutes until the waitress came back and placed a few plates on the table.

She had her face turned away from Haruhi the entire time, but she could've sworn she had seen a flash of blue eyes. Just as she turned away, Haruhi called out, "Rachel!"

The blonde turned back and winked at Haruhi just as two disembodied twin voices spoke up. "Ladies and gentlemen, please join in tonight in celebrating happiness of one couple as we do every night. Today, the honor goes to..."a spotlight fell on an extremely surprised Haruhi. "This beautiful young lady here."

Everyone's eyes turned towards them. Seven waiter and waitresses stepped foreward. One blonde, one raven haired girl, a redhead and four brunettes.

"Y-you guys! What's going on?"

None of the Arts club members answered, instead starting to sing a melody in perfect acapella.

A voice behind her answered instead. "We're so happy we met you Haru chan and we wanted to help Tamaki celebrate."

Haruhi turned and saw the Host Club standing behind her. Haruhi looked like she would've said something but was interrupted by the sound of Rachel's voice:

_You think I'm pretty without any make-up on_

_You think I'm funny when I tell the punch line wrong_

Followed by Shonali's:

_I know you get me, so I let my walls come down, down_

Rachel:

_Before you met me, I was a wreck_

_But things were kinda heavy, you brought me to life_

_Now every February you'll be my valentine, valentine_

Shonali:

_Let's go all the way tonight_

_No regrets, just love_

_We can dance until we die_

_You and I, we'll be young forever_

Shonali's voice rose a little in pitch and what followed could only be describes as an explosion of sound as she and Rachel smiled at Haruhi and joined their voiced together with the others, pulling Haruhi from her seat to dance with them.

Rachel + Shonali:

_You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream_

_The way you turn me on..._

_I. Can't. Sleep._

_Let's run away and don't ever look back..._

_Don't ever look back!_

_My. Heart. Stops. _

_When you look at me_

_Just. One. Touch._

_Now baby, I believe_

_This. Is. Real. _

_So take a chance_

_And don't ever look back, don't ever look back!_

_I'ma get your heart racing in my skin-tight jeans_

_Be your teenage dream tonight._

_Let you put your hands on me in skin tight jeans_

_Be your teenage dream tonight._

Suddenly they whirled her into Jackson's arms and the entire song changed in a heartbeat and slowed.

Jackson:

_Cause when I see your face_

_There's not a thing that I would change_

_Cause you're amazing_

_Just the way you are_

Matt:

_And when you smile,_

_The whole world stops and stares for awhile_

_Cause girl you're amazing_

_Just the way you are_

Matt+ Jackson:

_Oh her eyes, her eyes_

_Make the stars look like they're not shining_

_Her hair, her hair_

_Falls perfectly without her trying_

_She's so beautiful_

_And I tell her every day..._

_Oh you know, you know, you know_

_I'd never ask you to change_

_If perfect is what you're searching for_

_Then just stay the same_

_When I see your face_

_There's not a thing that I would change_

_Cause you're amazing_

_Just the way you are_

_And when you smile,_

_The whole world stops and stares for awhile_

_Cause girl you're amazing_

_Just the way you are_

The others couples were up on their feet cheering and dancing right along with the Arts Club. Haruhi was laughing and blushing, looking adorable with a completely bemused expression on her face.

Tamaki pulled Haruhi away and then got down on one knee. The Arts Club changed pitch again, this time joined by music from over the loudspeaker. Music that sounded suspiciously like wedding bells.

Matt:

It's a beautiful night

We're looking for something dumb to do

Hey baby

I think I wanna marry you

Rachel:

Is it the look in your eyes

Or is it this dancing juice?

Who cares, baby

I think I wanna marry you

Shonali:

Well, I know this little chapel

On the boulevard we can go

No one will know

Jackson:

Oh, come on girl

Shonali:

Who cares if we're trashed

Got a pocket full of cash we can blow

Shots of patron

Jackson:

And it's on, girl

Tamaki pulled a small white box from his pocket and opened it. Inside was a small diamond ring. "Haruhi. I love you. I will love for every moment for the rest of my life. Will you marry me?"

Delilah + Jason:

Don't say no, no, no, no, no

Just say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

And we'll go, go, go, go, go

Delilah:

If you're ready

Jason:

Like I'm ready

All:

'Cause it's a beautiful night

We're looking for something dumb to do

Hey baby

I think I wanna marry you

Is it the look in your eyes

Or is it this dancing juice?

Who cares, baby

I think I wanna marry you

Shonali:

I'll go get a ring

Let the choir bells sing like

Ooh ooh ooh,

so what ya wanna do?

Jackson:

Let's just run, girl

Matt:

If we wake up and you

Rachel:

Wanna break up, that's cool

No, I won't blame you

All:

It was fun, girl

Don't say no, no, no, no, no

Just say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

And we'll go, go, go, go, go

If you're ready, like I'm ready

'Cause it's a beautiful night

We're looking for something dumb to do

Hey baby

I think I wanna marry you

Is it the look in your eyes

Or is it this dancing juice?

Who cares, baby

I think I wanna marry you

Just say I do

Rachel + Matt:

Tell me right now, baby

Tell me right now, baby, baby

Just say I do

Delilah + Jason:

Tell me right now, baby

Tell me right now, baby, baby, oh

All:

It's a beautiful night

We're looking for something dumb to do

Hey baby

I think I wanna marry you

Is it the look in your eyes

Or is it this dancing juice

Who cares, baby

I think I wanna marry you

Haruhi finally nodded, throwing her arms around Tamaki. "Yes. Yes, I will you big idiot!"

There was a loud crack and a bunch of fireworks started going up. Everyone was cheering and stomping their feet. A couple girls were heard to say, "How romantic. I could just _die_!"

Shonali sidled up to Kyoya. "See. Soulmates."

He smiled down at her, "Well, it doesn't look as it your friends are going to let up anytime soon." He said indicating the rest of the Arts club who had now started in on a chorus of Hey, Soul Sister which many couples were already dancing to. "Would you do me the honor of this dance?" he asked charmingly as he held out a hand. Which she took with a smile, "One." she assented.

And for a few hours, everyone forgot their own troubles as they danced around the happy, smiling couple.

* * *

_*flash back to two hours previously*_

"Why are you here? You should know that Shonali is still at school."

"Actually, we came to see you Mrs Johari." said Rachel looking down at her hands which were folded in her lap. "I'm going to be honest with you. We know that you don't like us and I admit we have no fondness for you either. But-" She paused looking up to see a small smile tug the sides of Veronica's mouth. "Go on"

"But, we both care for Shonali."

She seemed unable to go on so Caroline continued for her. "We were made aware that Shonali and this James guy are engaged because of you. As her friends we were naturally concerned for her well being and so-"

"So we have a proposition for you. A deal of sorts." finished Rachel, having found her words again. "James is going back to Italy for a year. He won't see Shonali again until the wedding. We want you to go with him. Cut all ties with her for one year and give her to us. After that year is over she is free to get married as planned and we will not interfere in her life anymore."

"So, basically you're saying if I leave with James for one year, after the wedding you will stop seeing my daughter? Stop being her friends?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"If you stay, Shonali will be miserable until the wedding and after. If you leave, we believe she may get adjusted to the idea and be a little less unwilling to go through with it. Also, we're an important part of her life. It'll be hard for her to just get up and let us go. Like it or not, music is important to her. If you gave her a year to do whatever she wanted and slowly let go of it, it'll be better for her in the long run."

"But why would you agree to never see her again afterwards?"

"Because seeing us would only bring back painful memories."

"I see." Veronica fell silent for a moment and considered what Rachel had just said. "Very well."

Everyone looked up surprised. "You'll do it?" asked Rachel eagerly.

Veronica nodded. "Yes. I won't repeat myself more than twice now. Understand? Now get out please. I have some very important business to take care of."

Rachel waited until they were out of the house before she spoke again. "I never thought she would actually agree."

"So, what exactly are we going to do in the year that we have with Shona?" asked Delilah.

Rachel stopped and turned to face everyone, "We're going to convince her to do whatever it takes to get out of this marriage, out of this life she has. Even if it means having to let go of her family. We have to make her realize that she loves dance and music way too much to give it up."

"Give up her family? That sounds kind of extreme..." said Jason looking at Rachel, wondering if she had completely lost it.

Rachel shrugged and turned back, "I won't let my best friend be unhappy. Ever. Besides, she'll always have us, no matter what I said to Veronica."

As they all got back into Rachel's car, Jackson put a hand on Rachel's shoulder. "Ray...what if it doesn't work? What if you're plan fails. We really will have to stop seeing Shona. Are you prepared for that?"

Rachel bit her lip and looked at the brown haired boy, earnestly searching her face in worry. "We'll climb that mountain if we get there, but for now lets just focus on what needs to be done."

* * *

**How was it? Not too bad I hope? I'm sorry for all the mistakes and I guess I just got lazy at the end. I'm really, really, really, really sorry this was such a bad chapter. The host seems so out of character its driving me nuts. Kyoya is just WAY too hard to write for. Damn all good looking, cold guys. :'( Tamaki's over the top behaviour is no picnic either. Mori hasn't given me any trouble though :) As for Hunny, I'm trying to show the more grown up side to him more often. The little kid thing gets old really fast. (We all know he's got a scary side.) I'm still not used to writing Hikaru, but I think he would act a little jumpy around a girl like Caroline. I'll try my best to fix him :)**

**So don't forget to review and tell me what you think, and I will see you...next Saturday :)**


	10. I Don't Know How To Love

"They broke up."

"I still can't."

"Do it."

"No."

There seemed to be a sudden explosion in the middle of the small Starbucks and a few startled on lookers watched a pretty raven haired girl pounce on a boy with brown hair and pink streaks then proceed to strangle him.

"You. Stubborn. JackASS." Shonali enunciated every word with a punch to Jackson's stomach. "Why are you so damned stubborn? You like her. End of story."

Jackson managed to push Shonali off of him after a few minutes of struggling. He shakily got to his feet and brushed off his leather jacket. "Look, it's not that simple. She's just going to think that I'm trying to escape being gay by asking her out because I hate who I am or something. Plus I think it would creep her out to date a guy who also thinks Leonardo Dicaprio is hot."

Shonali got to her feet and dusted off her maroon jumper in one smooth movement. She sighed in frustration, "Then prove to her that you love her. I mean sexuality isn't this black and white thing, where you're either straight or gay. It's a fucking rainbow. There's shades of grey too."

"Okay...so how do I prove it to her?"

"How should I know? Do I look like an expert on this lovey dovey nonsense?" Shonali crossed her arms, looking irritated. "Me, the girl who's desperately trying to get out of an unwanted marriage." She looked back at Jackson, "Write her a poem or something. Girls like that, right? Or...I don't know serenade her under her window. I think I saw that in a movie once..."

Jackson started blankly at her before wrapping an arm around her waist and leading her over to order their coffee, "Shona, God knows you're my best friend and I couldn't live without you, but you SUCK at giving love advice."

Shonali laughed outright. "Hey at least I tried."

They grabbed their orders and chose a spot near a large window. "Look, all I'm saying is, I'm tired of watching you struggle with your feelings over Rachel. I just want you to be happy." Shonali said, placing a hand over Jackson's and squeezing lightly.

Jackson looked up at her from under his unruly bangs, "What if she and Matt decide to get back together?"

"What if they don't? Jackson, we could sit here all day and talk about_ 'what ifs'_ , but the way I see it, if you don't act and do something right now, the rest of your life, you'll be stuck in one big _'what if I just done this differently?' _They may get back together or they may not, but at least let her know that she has other options."

Jackson nodded, "Yeah, I guess you're right." He took a sip of his coffee mentally adding _"You should take your own advice too sometime."_

They sat in silence for a few minutes, quietly drinking their coffee. "So, how's the preparation for the half time show coming along?" asked Jackson, finally punctuating the silence.

Shonali looked up, "Fine, I guess."

Jackson looked at her in confusion, "Just _'fine'_?"

Shonali shrugged as she ran a finger down a deep groove in the table. "I don't know, I guess I've just been in a creative slump. I wanted to do something different, something that would really amaze everyone, but I just couldn't think of anything. At all. I spent all night thinking but I couldn't come up with a single good idea."

Jackson winced, "Ouch bad time to draw a blank."

Shonali nodded. "I know, it's just that with all that's been happening in the past few weeks, I just feel like I've lost all my confidence. First there was the whole marriage thing and I felt so trapped but then both Mother and James up and left a few days ago. I still don't understand why she went with him to Italy...but there was this incredible surge of freedom and then, nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing."

Shonali brushed a few stray hairs away from her eyes and gazed out the window up at the grey sky, liking the way it was harsh and cold like steel as well as soft and warm like a blanket at the same time. She decided she liked that particular color as the sky darkened a tinge more.

Jackson watched Shonali as she looked out at the sky. A small smile found its way to her lips unconsciously and a couple stray hairs fell into her eyes again, softening her expression until she exuded a gentle calmness. Jackson decided to stay silent for awhile before bringing up the topic he most wanted to talk to her about: her marriage. He just didn't understand. This person he saw these days wasn't Shonali. The girl he knew was independent, strong and a take no prisoners type of person. She projected confidence from every facet of herself: her eyes, her smile, her body and refused to let others dictate her life. The Shonali he knew was resilient and a fighter. She did not just give up because she believed in using any means necessary to achieve her desires. The Shonali he knew was ruthless. Sure it was terrifying sometimes, but it was who she was.

But she was also a contradiction. Just as mean and cruel she could be, she could also be just as soft and caring. She was kind and selfless when it came to her friends. She loved deeply and passionately and like a bright white flame that refused to flicker out. She was an ever flitting butterfly. The more you focused on her, the faster her colors would change and the faster she would move away, all before you could blink.

How did a person like that just let someone else dictate her life? It made no sense.

"Jackson." He blinked, snapping back to the present. Shonali was still looking out the window but her mouth curved up in amusement, "You're staring. It's creepy."

"Sorry" he said sheepishly. "I was just thinking."

She looked back at him, making eye contact. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I always am."

"But why? I just don't understand why you let your mother trample all over you."

Shonali smiled sadly, "I just want her to look at me the way she used to. When I was younger, she used to hold me when dad went on his business trips when she thought I was asleep and she used to sing soft lullaby's. She used to run her fingers through my hair and whisper_ 'I love you'_ whenever she thought I wasn't listening. I want her to stop looking at me like she did my dad, with so much hate and resentment."

"What?"

Shonali wrapped her hands around her coffee cup, feeling the warmth soak into her fingers. "My parents marriage was far from perfect. They thought I didn't know but I did. My dad spent his entire life in love with someone else. At first my mom accepted it, then she became hurt and angry. So much so that she began to hate my dad and everything about him."

"But what does this have to do with what she's doing to you? An arranged marriage? This is America for christ's sake."

Shonali looked at Jackson kindly and continued on gently, "She's trying to protect me in her own way. She thinks that a love marriage will only bring sorrow like her's did. I think, she thinks it's more painful that if someone who you love hurts you than if it's someone you don't care about, like in an arranged marriage. If James left me for someone else five years down the line, I honestly can't say that I would care too much but if it were someone that I fell in love with that did the same thing... "

"Shona," Jackson reached over and took both her hands in his own. "The fear for getting hurt is a terrible justification for what she's doing to you. Love is worth all the hurt and the pain, trust me, I know. To live without knowing love, even painful love, is not really living at all."

Shonali looked down at their hands, twined together, resting on the table. Something passed across her beautiful features. "I-I don't know if I can."

"Can what?" he asked leaning forward curiously.

"I don't know if I know how to love."

"I don't understand, how can someone not know how to love?"

She pulled her hands away and crossed her arms, leaning back against her chair, her eyebrows delicately knitted together. "I love you and Rachel and all my friends. I know that kind of love. I love Priya and Raj and my mother, I know that kind of love too but I've never loved a guy before. Ever. I've never had a crush on anyone."

"But you've dated a few guys and you've slep-"

"Sleeping together really has nothing to do with love Jackson, don't be so naive. The thing is, I did feel attracted to all those guys but only physically. Emotionally, there was nothing and I'm beginning to think there might never be. Also, I think love is unlikely. It's a miracle for two people to like each other at the same time and in the same way."

"Don't say that. You cant give up."

"Why? What am I supposed to do, wait for prince charming to ride up to my door step on a white horse and offer to whisk me away to some enchanted castle or something? I might be waiting forever."

"So that's it then. You've given up and you've decided to go ahead and marry that jerk."

"What choice do I have? I want to make my mother happy. I want to do my duty and be a good daughter."

"What about dance, what about us? You're not your dad Shonali, no matter how much you might seem like him. You're mother's just going to have to recognize that at some point."

Shonali turned her head away.

"Are you crying?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Of course not you idiot." But her voice broke a little, she was just too proud to turn back around and face him.

"I'm going to do it." Jackson said suddenly. "I'm going to tell Rachel how I feel. I'm going to do what my heart tells me too and maybe you'll see that you should too."

Shonali turned back around now and smiled sincerely, if a little sadly at Jackson, "I hope things work out. You two would be so cute together. I've always thought so, but I hope this doesn't mean I'll be losing my duet partner?"

"No way, you and me, we're bonded for life sistah."

"Really? Forever's a long time. Consider carefully."

"Fo sho S dizzle."

"Stop talking like that!" Shonali laughed threatening to throw her coffee into his face.

Yo dun can't nobody fake tha hood... ya har me girl?"

"I'm walking away now."

"Give a brotha a chance sweet thang."

Shonali responded my smiling sweetly and flipping him off. "I'm sorry but yo' fake ass ain't ma type."

The two of them eventually managed to leave Starbucks, although they were laughing like a couple of lunatics and half the people in there undoubtedly thought they were, left just as the first few drops of rain started to fall.

"Let's hurry and call a cab."

Shonali suddenly turned to him and smiled in a way that made her almond shaped eyes widen slightly, she grabbed his hand, "I say we run for it."

Jackson looked at her sudden mood change in complete bewilderment. "Wha-?" But he never got his words out because she was already running, dragging him behind her through the streets of New York neatly dodging each individual rain drop as it fell until there were too many of them to avoid. Her laughter made her sound more like a mischievous fairy than a human.

* * *

"Raj, have you seen mother?" Priya walked into the kitchen to find her older brother sitting at the breakfast table, newspaper in hand. He didn't even look up as he answered, "No."

"It's strange, Shonali said she left for Italy but I thought she was just kidding." Priya grabbed a waffle and sat down across from Raj, "But, this morning I went into mother's room and saw that most of her clothes were gone and so were her suitcases. Do you really think she's gone?"

Raj sighed an folded up his newspaper, sensing that Priya wasn't about to leave him alone and turned his attention to his toast. "You know how mother is, she does everything on the slightest whim. If Shonali says she's gone to Italy, I don't doubt it."

Priya's eyes narrowed slightly a this noncommittal response. "So, what's got you so worked up? I've only seen that expression on your face when you're trying to close some deal or whatever."

Raj actually bothered to look up at his sister this time, "We've been chasing some new pop star for three weeks now trying to get her to sign a record deal but that little upstart keeps asking for more and more money. Frankly I'm starting to wonder if she's even worth it."

"New popstar? Sounds interesting."

"Hmph. She's just some kid out of Nashville but she's got a small and pretty dedicated fan base and we want to take advantage of that."

Priya rolled her eyes at her brother, settling into her chair "Don't try so hard that you hurt yourself. Probably scared the poor girl stiff with that 'all business' attitude of yours."

"First of all, I didn't go to law school so I could spend the day chasing after hormonal highschool girls, second I'm only stuck doing this is because your lack of a penis and third my attitude is nothing compared to your beloved husband who spends all day goofing off with the interns."

"Hey! Don't you dare say anything about Henry, he at least has a sense of humor."

The two started bickering over their coffee just as Jonathan walked in, took one look at the scene in front of him and walked right back out. "_This family will drive me insane someday. Why did I ever leave the military? It's a hundred times more peaceful."_


	11. Let The Games Begin

**Sorry! I've been gone for sooooooooooooo long! but I finally have time to write again :) Anyways, this chapter continues off from the previous chapter (on the same day.) Enjoy! (I'm slowly going to start posting the rest of the story, I have everything written, I just need to add the ending and do some editing, which I've been neglecting lately. :( Sorry for my spelling anf grammar!**

**p.s has everyone seen the live action of ouran? kyoya is sooooooooo hawt in it :)**

* * *

"Kyoya wake up."

Tamaki and the other host club members stood in a semi circle around around Kyoya's bed, bodies tensed as if to run at a moments notice.

"S-senpai?" Kaoru asked nervously edging forward, only to leap backwards with a shriek when he saw one eye open and glare at him.

"Give it up, you guys this is useless." said Haruhi, who was the only one besides Mori, not pale white and shaking."

"Y-yeah, she's right. I like life too much. I don't want to die just yet." said Hikaru clinging to a shaking Kaoru.

"Kyo chan sure is grumpy in the mornings." said, Hunny looking out from behind Mori's legs. "You have no room to talk." replied the stoned faced boy.

"Leave." growled a menacing, rough voice from beneath the covers.

"Aww, is somebody feeling a little cranky today?" asked a voice from behind them in a fake baby voice. The huddled group turned to see Shonali leaning against the doorway. Jackson, Rachel, Jason and Delilah followed behind along with a reluctant Matt who stood a good ten feet away from Rachel. The tension between those two could have cut through icebergs.

"Thank God!" the entire group chorused and all but Haruhi and Mori rushed to hide behind Shonali, pushing her forward. "You deal with him."

"What are you so afraid off? asked Rachel confusedly. "I don't see.." her voice trailed off as she caught sight of the Demon Lord's expression. "Oh."

Suddenly she and Tamaki were pushing everybody out the door. "You're right. We'll leave Shonali to deal with him."

"Wait, why me?" asked Shonali, but before she had even finished her sentence she found herself addressing an empty room. She sighed and sat down on the edge of Kyoya's bed, ignoring the dark flames that radiated from him and proceeded to pull out a small pocket mirror from her purse to fix her wet hair.

Kyoya rolled over, pulling the blanket further over his head. Shonali looked back at him and sighed, rolling her eyes. "I have all the time in the world Kyoya, I'm not leaving until you wake up." She looked back at the mirror, frowning slightly at a split end. "That, and also the fact that it's quiet in here. They're probably doing something stupid and noisy out there."

"How much noisier could it be out there than in here?"

Shonali turned and found herself only a few inches away from a pair of glaring storm grey eyes. It was a few minutes before she was able to think again and another few seconds before she could speak.

"Oh, ouch. So does this mean you'll get up now- eep!"

Kyoya fell back against his bed again, taking Shonali with him, "Please just be quiet for a few minutes."

"Um Kyoya..." She gasped a little as his arms tightened around her waist and pulled her closer, until his face was buried in her hair. She found herself frozen and unable to pull away or even open her mouth.

"Why is your hair wet?" he asked suddenly.

She answered with a small squeek.

"What, did the water get into your brain too?"

He was silent for awhile before he spoke again, this time just on the verge of going back to sleep, "You smell nice."

Shonali felt a sudden heat rush through her body starting at her waist where his arm was and her skin became flushed and heated. She wasn't sure how long she stayed frozen like that but eventually her heart stopped beating quite so fast and her head cleared sufficiently enough for her to roll out of his grip. She wasn't shocked anymore. From from it. Now, she was slightly irritated._ "Why in the name of all that is holy did I react like that? A guy touches me and suddenly I turn into an unthinking, brainless, twittering, mess." _

She looked down at Kyoya, who had rolled over and was sleeping quite soundly. Suddenly her irritation vanished and a small smile replaced her scowl. She had never seen him look so peaceful. She sat down on the bed beside him again. He wasn't normally one for displaying any emotions, his expression almost never deviated from that of cool indifference or the characteristic smirk that sometimes tugged at the corner of his lips when he found something amusing. (That something usually being Tamaki.) But, his eyes were another story. When not hidden by his glasses, she could see thoughts constantly flitting through them, just behind the surface. But when he was asleep his whole face seemed to relax. He looked so calm and kind of sweet.

Shonali shook her head, still smiling. "What is it about you that makes me so confused?" she whispered. Then, without thinking or knowing why she did it, Shonali leaned over and kissed him lightly on the cheek and left.

Everyone looked up as she entered the common living room between the six apartments. "Is he-?" Tamaki asked, looking at her expectantly.

She shook her head and smiled as she flopped down on the couch beside Mori. "No. He looked so cute, I thought it would be a shame to wake him up."

The entire host club blanched. "C-cute? Did she just call the Shadow King cute?" asked the twins simultaneously.

Tamaki tapped the side of his head and laughed nervously, "I must still have water in my ears from my shower. I thought I heard the word 'cute' and Kyoya used in the same sentence."

"Are you sure you're feeling okay Shona chan?" asked Hunny, looking at her with large, concerned eyes.

Shonali rolled her eyes, "I'm sorry. I didn't know I'd said something so completely outrageous. It's just that he looked...calm? I don't know, he's not so bad when he's asleep, I guess it's when he wakes up that scares people."

Kaoru suddenly nodded, "You know, maybe she has a point. I remember when Tamaki was going through that whole grandmother issue, I went over one morning to talk to Kyoya, only he was still asleep so I had to wait for awhile...but did you know he actually smiles in his sleep?"

Haruhi finished warming up her coffee and sat down between Hikaru and Tamaki. "I hate to think of what makes him smile though."

Shonali burst into a peal of laughter as everyone sweatdropped. "How awful!"

"That reminds me!" Haruhi said sitting up straighter. "I forgot to tell everyone about this dream I had."

For the next few minutes Haruhi recalled her dream. Hunny had grown to be as tall as Tamaki and seemingly overnight he'd aged about ten years so that he actually looked eighteen instead of eight. Then Mori suddenly became a lot less caring towards Hunny and started treating him just like he would Tamaki or the twins.

"Anyways, so it turned out that Kyoya senpai gave Hunny senpai pills to make him stay looking younger and small because if Hunny senpai grew up, he'd fill the dumb blonde role which was already taken by Tamaki and they would overlap."

"H-haruhi..." Tamaki whined. "What do you mean dumb? You think I'm-"

"That's an terrible dream to have Haru chan." Honey deadpanned as the twins choked down their laughter by pressing their faces into each others shoulders.

Delilah leaned forward, eyed wide, "You don't think he would actually do that would you? It sounds like him..."

"Haruhi. Let's talk. We need to have a little discussion about how your inner workings perceive my character. Okay?" Everyone jumped about a foot in the air as Kyoya came in and calmly sat down beside Shonali who was biting her lip, trying her best to hold in her laughter. "I'm glad you find something amusing about this." he told her somewhat coldly.

"You're actually up? What happened?" asked Tamaki, the first to recover.

Kyoya shot a quick glance at Shonali, whose face was slightly flushed. "I don't know, I had a strange dream."

Haruhi got up and brought everyone tea and during the ensuing commotion over cake, Rachel bent closer to Tamaki and whispered in his ear, "You saw it too right? That look?" Tamaki looked over into her wide blue eyes and smiled just a tiny bit, "Yes, but I think we should wait to see if anything else happens." Rachel nodded seeming satisfied and leaned back again, causing Delilah to shoot her a questioning look as Mori handed her the strawberry cake Hunny had insisted she have, in a fit of gallantry.

Hikaru looked around, "Hey, where's Caroline?"

"I'm sure she's coming." said Jason, inspecting the edge of a doily. "Hey Shona, have you come up with a song for the half time show? The game's coming up in five days and I'm a little worried about time."

Shonali languidly stirred her tea, "It's...coming together. I'll let you know." Jason exchanged looks with his twin, raising his eyebrows delicately before smiling at her. "If you say so."

Another fifteen minutes passed before Jason's prediction came true. However, Caroline didn't just arrive, she exploded. "Rachel!"

Rachel's blue eyes were the size of saucers as she stared at her fiery friend. "C-Care? Are you on drugs? I thought we agreed that-" Her words were interuppted by Caroline waving something in her face. "Look at this!"

"Caroline stop shouting and waving that in front of my face... I can't see what it is..." But Caroline was far too excited and was talking so fast and uncoherently that no one could understand what she was saying until Delilah quietly reached up and seemed to pinch her under the elbow, at which Caroline promptly fainted, falling onto a very startled Shonali's lap.

"She fainted." Mori observed. He and everyone else looked at Delilah.

Delilah shyly looked out from underneath her eyelashes, "There are 11 pressure points on the human body, that one just so happens to knock one unconscious."

"It's always the quiet ones." Shonali smirked at Delilah as she and Mori hoisted Caroline onto the couch between them. Haruhi went to get smelling salts to wake Caroline up as Rachel took the newspaper and read the front article, which turned out to be a letter from the Chairman of the school board:

"Dear students of McKinnley,

As you are aware, our school is one of the finest establishments for higher eduction in the world. Our unique approach to learning is world renowned and clearly one of the most successful. We divide students up into over twenty different departments where they will study all their subjects with a focus on the area of their interest. These departments include, as you all are aware, Literature, Architecture, Musical Theory, Business, Medicine, Social Sciences, Anthropology, Sports Medicine, Arts, Fine Arts, Fashion and many more.

Recently, we've been presented with an exciting opportunity from a Mr. Tom Wilson, the president of the National Education Corp., more popularly know as NEC. In order to promote students and investment in education, he is willing to donate 400 million dollars to the school. However, there is a catch. The money will only go to one department. Which department it goes to will be determined by Mr. Wilson himself. He asks you all to prepare a short ten minute presentation on why you think your department should get the money. After seeing all presentations, he will select a winner. You have one week.

Good Luck to you all!

Chairman W.B Smeeve

P.S Good luck to our football team next week. Lets hope all your hard work pays off."

As Rachel read the letter, a stillness had descended upon the room. Even Caroline, now fully recovered, sat perfectly still with an expression fit for sitting by the deathbed of a distant relative. There was an awkward silence and none of the Host Club with the exception of Haruhi and Kyoya understood.

"Why aren't you guys celebrating, you should be happy." said Hikaru, peering over at the letter from Rachel's left shoulder. Kaoru, on the right, nodded. "Yeah. 400 million? That's incredible."

Rachel cleared her throat and laughed nervously, glancing around at the others. "Well actually, all of us are in completely separate sections. I'm in literature, Delilah's in Medical, Shonali's in Business, Jackson's in Musical Theory, Jason's in Architecture, M-Matt's in Sports Med and Caroline's in Art."

Caroline stood up. "Even so. I think we all know who should get it. Clearly, it should be MY department. We all know the Art department is the most under appreciated. We have less funding than all of you guys." said Caroline matter of factly.

"Please," interjected Rachel. "You don't need funding, you get it by selling those stupid paintings and scupltures you make to snooty art collectors. The literature departement has nothing."

"Because you guys don't need anything." cut in Jason. "Books are already paid for by the school and its well know Lit students are the richest 1%, they are fully able to pay for everything else."

"Sports med-" began Matt.

"Has more than enough funding from football." interupted Shonali. Matt turned to her, eyebrows raised. "And I suppose you think buisness needs it? Don't y'all study how to make money? You of all people shouldn't need funding."

Shonali sweetly up at him, "Right but every buisness needs a preliminary investement and 400 million goes a long way. We really could use better computers and things. Either buiness or medical should get it." She looked at Delilah.

Delilah suddenly became very interested in the lace hemline of her dress. "Well, um we really could use a better lab." Shonali sighed and cocked her head, observing Delilah in slight annoyance, "You know it's okay to stick up for yourself once in a while."

Delilah just looked up at everyone, wide eyed as a deer, "Well I- um-um"

"Okay, fine." Caroline cut across her. "It's decided, since we're all going to disagree lets all compete against each other for the money."

Matt stood up. "Sounds good. May the best **man**, win- OW! Who threw that?" He rubbed the spot where an apple had collided with his head, sending Rachel into a fit of giggles. Shonali bit back a smile, winking at Haruhi, mouthing "Nice shot."

Jackson rolled his eyes. "Although I don't see the point if we're competing against Shona." He put his feet up on the table, ingoring the swirling cloud of doom and pain that appeared around Haruhi's head. "We're just going to lose."

Hunny looked up from his cake. "Eh? What does he mean Shona-chan?"

"It means she's never lost a competition. Ever." Jason said, walking around to put an arm around his twin so that they looked like a warped version of Hikaru and Kaoru.

"Never?" asked Hunny.

"Ever." nodded Shonali distractedly looking down at something she saw on her Blackberry. "How do you think I became captain of the cheerleaders? We've never lost a single competition in four years. But then again, I only stoop to this competing nonsense when it matters. Like now. Anyways. Excuse me, I have to go."

She got up in one fluid smooth motion and dragged Kyoya after her. "Kyoya you don't mind driving me do you? No? Okay Thank you." She had already pulled him through the door regardless of whatever his answer would have been.

"She really doesn't hold back does she?" asked the twins in perfectly unison.

Everyone eventually broke into general chaos again and nobody noticed as Caroline quietly slipped out of the room, clutching the newspaper message tightly.


	12. Release Me and Let Me Fly

Shonali had gone deathly quiet in the car, her fingers closing in a vise-like grip around her phone. It was a few minutes before Kyoya could shake her out of her reverie. He reached across taking her hands in his own and gently loosening her grip. Finally, she looked up at him, feeling a strange sensation in the pit of her stomach as she looked up into his grey eyes. "The ring. I need to find that god damn ring. Jonanthan just told me, my mother asked him to keep an eye on me. If she finds out I'm not wearing it... I really don't want to think about what would happen." She dropped her gaze. "I think I dropped it somewhere out in the football fields during practice or something..." She twisted her hands around in his so that their fingers were loosley laced together. 'Would you help me find it? I- I don't think I could do it alone."

He nodded and gently squeezed her hands in response. She looked up again and met his gaze, eyes widening a little bit. She quickly withdrew her hands again, seeming almost afraid and looked away as she spoke. "Thank you."

Kyoya started the car and pulled out of the driveway. Neither of them spoke again for the remainder of the ride. Shonali wrapped her arms around her knees and pulled her legs close to her chest, leaning her chin on top of her arms. She tried to fight the overwhelming panic washing over her, conflicting with the strange weightless freedom she felt in her left hand with out the ring. It was as though a hundred pound mass had previously been shakled to her hand had now been released. Then as she looked side ways at Kyoya, a new feeling pushed out the rest. A strange sort of burning in the pit of her stomach, the same feeling that had shot through her this morning and just a few minutes ago when he had held her hands. She felt her heart beat accelerate and looked quickly away again.

"Oh god. I really am messed up. What am I thinking, and about Kyoya of all people." She buried her head in her arms, trying to wipe her mind blank of all thoughts. That's why she didn't notice the hand resting on her shoulder for a few minutes. When finally looked up, she saw the open car door and Kyoya kneeling beside doorframe looking at her in what, for him at least, could pass as concern.

"You look unwell. You're completely flushed. Are you sure that you are okay?"

She brushed him quickly aside. "I'm fine. Let's just go look for the ring okay?" As soon as she got out of the car, her mind was wiped completely blank as she looked up at the sky. Kyoya looked at her in amusement, "What? What is it now?"

"I love the rain," Shonali said smiling dreamily. Then she was running off, talking over her shoulder to Kyoya, "I think I might have dropt it somewhere over by the bleachers when we were practicing basket tosses."

"What's a basket toss?" he asked once her had caught up. She crouched down on the ground, running her fingers through the grass. "It's where a flyer is tossed up into the air by thier bases." She gasped as she thought she spotted something but then sighed in disappointment when it turned out to be nothing but raindrops, clinging to the grass. Kyoya crouched down beside her as they continued to search. "Tell me more." He asked pretending it was just curiosity, but really just wanting to hear her voice.

"The flyers are usually the most elite athletes among cheerleaders. They are also usually the smallest and lightest. They need to have spot on balance, lightning reaction times and be the most flexible and brave. The bases are our strongest and most trustworthy. They need to be on top of things all the time because if they make a single mistake, thier flyer could fall from twenty feet up in the air with nothing but the grass to cradle her fall. Could even wind up with a broken neck."

He scoffed. "That sounds unneccessarily dangerous. Why do it?"

She leaned back on her calves and closed her eyes, "Because that feeling, that rush that you get from being that high, the feeling of being able to defy gravity itself, even if only for a few minutes is amazing. Everything I go up, I feel for a split second as if I might serisously be able to stay up there forever and fly into the clouds. But," She opened her eyes and smiled, "I know that when I do start to fall there's someone there waiting to catch me and make sure I don't hurt myself." She looked at him, "But I'm curious, what are you objecting to? The thought of the height...or the thought of having to rely on others?"

He stopped looking in the grass and met her gaze evenly. "Because what would happen if the ones you trust so completely couldn't catch you, no matter how hard they tried? Would the fall be worth living only a brief lie?" He stood up a offered her his hand and pulled her to her feet in one swift movement. They stood only inches apart and Kyoya was once again hit with the same intoxicating, irresistable scent that he smelled that morning. He suddenly smirked and raised a hand, gently running the tips of his fingers across her cheek, down her neck and trailed them along her collar bones and watching in amusement as her skin became flushed and her breathing hitched.

Her eyes narrowed at the self satisfied expression on his face, and she took a step closer, watching his expression change to one of puzzlement. "We all live lies. Sometimes, they're just better than facing what cold reality is." As she said this she held up her hand and fluttered her fingers in thanks, the newly placed ring glittering in the weak sunlight.

"You live one too."

They looked a each other wondering how far the other one would go. For his part, Kyoya wasn't sure what he wanted to focus on, what she was saying or the reaction she seemed to be involuntarily showing at thier closeness. He placed a hand on the small of her back and drew her closer, until she had no choice but to place her hands against his chest to keep some measure of separation between them. "And just what do you mean by that? He whispered, mouth next to her ear.

"I see the way you look at her." He froze. "And at the same time, the way you look at him. You tell yourself that you have no interest because there's no merit and you never do anything that has no merit and yet...there's that look in your eyes. You smiled through it all and supported them because he's your best friend and he loved her. You'd rather live the lie of not caring rather than face the truth because once you do, everything would change. You know that you'll have to face reality soon and when you do there's someone there waiting to make sure you don't get hurt. But you also know, that should they fail and let you crumple on the ground, broken, you would still forgive them unconditionally because they were the ones who let you fly in the first place."

His other hand moved unconsciously to her waist, eyes hidden by a fringe of midnight black hair dropping down into his face. "Seems there's no way to be happy then, is there?"

She shook her head, "You could always grow a pair of wings and stay up in the clouds. Then the lie would become the truth."

He felt a smile tug at the corner of his lips and he pulled back so he could look into her hazel eyes. "Why is it that whenever I think I have you figured out, you have to say something that completely throws me off again?"

"Kyoya, face it, you'll never figure me out." She said smiling sweetly and wrapping her arms around his neck. He smiled briefly before becoming serious once more. "And what would you call this?" He brushed a few stray hairs from her forehead, watching that same red flush take over her features.

"This...this is..." she pushed him gently away, "Not right. We should go." She turned to walk back towards the car. He stood there for a momment before nodding and following after her. "You're right."

They walked in silence until they reached the car and the she spoke in a soft voice, eyes downcast. "Why didn't you at least try to hold on to her?"

Kyoya looked across at the raven haired beauty as he opened the door, hand freezing on the handle. "Because I found something else. Something more precious." She met his gaze then and managed a smile, an unreadable emotion flickering through her hazel eyes. "You know, I think you might be the most selfless person I've ever met." He snorted in derision.

"What?" She shrugged. "It's attractive." He looked at her curiously now, but she merely ducked inside the car and spent the rest of the ride back looking out at the rain which had started to fall again.

"_This time, I don't think I want to stand back and idly watch." _He thought._ "This time I think I'll try playing the game. Who knows, it could turn out to be quite interesting."_

* * *

Red. Caroline had always like that particular color. Now more than ever as she vehemently splashed it across her canvas, trying to calm her mind and think straight. She liked to think that she thought in colors. Blue, yellow or orange when she was happy or grey and black when she was sad. It was weird, but she figured everyone had their own way of being themselves. Matt played golf when he needed to think, Rachel read poetry, Delilah gardened, Jason sketched, Jackson played guitar and Shonali danced. Caroline's brush suddenly stopped moving across the page as she though of her friend and her fingers automatically tightened their grip.

"This time, I'm going to win. This time, it's my turn." She muttered darkly. She didn't know what it was but things had been going badly for her for some time now and she was officially sick of it. She always lost. It wasn't for a lack of trying but she always lost. Lost at competitions, failed tests, lost guys, lost everything. Her friends, well she was glad she had them but sometimes it was hard putting up with such unbearable perfection. It was downright hair raising. They were all beautiful, more than she, richer than she, smarter than she, so much more unbearably perfect. Especially Shonali. It was so irritating. Sometimes it felt like she was the only human in a company of gods.

Caroline continued to color the canvas in red and let it fill her vision. She let her thoughts go back to a few days ago, when she had been coming out of the club room and she happened to over hear something.

"_Hey Sam! WAIT UP!"_

_A boy with blonde hair, like spun gold turned around and smiled as the shorter brunette boy caught up. Caroline, only a few feet behind them, saw and eyes widening, hurried to hide behind one of the large stone pillars supporting the ceiling in the hallway. Sam. She had had a crush on him for as long as she could remember. He was so...so...perfect. He liked all the same music she did, he was really into graphic art and to top it all off he was a really great dancer, he was even in the preforming arts club with them. Caroline felt the heat creeping up her cheeks as she thought about him and had to shake her head violently to clear her thoughts. She peeked around the pillar to see if he had gone. She was all sweaty from practice and she didn't want him to see her that way. To her dismay however he was still standing in the hallway, talking to the brunette boy whose name Caroline just couldn't remember. As they talked Shonali came out of the club room, closing the door behind her and reaching into her bag to get her keys to lock it. She and Caroline had stayed behind later than the others to practice. She had changed out of her dance clothes and into a blue skirt, black tank top and simple black pumps and though the outfit was simple she managed to make it look amazing._

_As she did this, Sam and the other boy had stopped talking and were now simply oggling her. Caroline felt a sudden pang of resentment. They continued to watch as Shonali glanced at her phone and smiled at something she saw, laughing slightly. She glanced around as if looking for someone until her eyes settled on something at the far end of the hallway, just past where Sam and the boy were standing. She walked towards them, eyes fixed on one spot, until she eventually called out: "Kyoya!"_

_Caroline peeked out a little further and saw Kyoya leaning casually against the wall by an open window at the end of the hallway. He looked up and smiled when he saw Shonali. "Took you long enough."_

"_It's only been an hour. I told you I was going to stay behind for a little while." She said smirking, "Why did Kyo-chan miss me?" _

"_Well I wouldn't say that but you have deprived me of an entire hour of seeing you waltz around in that." He pointed to her skirt. "Really, is this what women's fashion has become? It barely covers anything."_

_She leaned forward and smacked him lightly on her back of the head, "Shut up, let's just go."_

"_Whatever you say. " He said rubbing the back of his head and giving her an amused smile. "Are you hungry? Lets go get something to eat." He smoothly managed to wrap one arm around her waist and pull her foreward, ignoring her protests, which got weaker and disappeared when he moved his hand to the small of her back. Instead she just turned a little red and looked down at her feet as they walked until the pair disappeared around the corner._

_Caroline looked back at Sam and the other boy who had started talking again. "She is so hot!" said the brown haired boy. "Aren't you in a club with her or something? She's a dancer right?"_

_Sam nodded, "Yeah the performing arts club. She's a pretty amazing dancer and she's nice too."_

"_Wow! Do you think you have any chance with her? Wait no forget that, do I have a shot? I think I'm going to ask to her the spring formal..."_

"_She's not really my type," said Sam picking his gym bag from off the ground. Caroline felt her heart lift a little. _

_"But if you got the chance, you know...would you?"_

_Sam looked at him like he was crazy, "Are you kidding? I said she wasn't my type but god damn I'm not blind. She's freaking sexy."_

_The brown haired boy laughed and then groaned, "Did you see how Ohtori was holding her though? We have no chance in hell... I'm so jealous"_

_Sam nodded in agreement and though Caroline tried really hard to hear what he said next, they were already too far from her. She sighed and same out form behind the pillar, going to the window where Kyoya had previously stood. She looked out and saw Shonali and Kyoya walking across the campus towards the small coffee shop. She was laughing at something he had said, his jacket draped across her shoulders. Caroline watched her for a few momments, looking at how even the sunlight seemed to cling to her and linger on her face longer than normal. Caroline started feeling bitter resentment building up towards her friend. "I love her to death but sometimes...I wish...I wish...she was different."_

* * *

_**So what do you think? Drop me a review and let me know will ya? Have you ever felt like Caroline does torwards a friend? I know I defintely have! You love them so much but sometimes you can't help wishing that you could just trade your life for thiers... Anyways, look out for more conflict and drama between these two characters coming up in the next few chapters! And of course, for the the half time show which the poor performing arts club has been so desperately planning as well as an exiciting new development in the Kyoya-Shona relationship. I can't wait to show them to all of you lovely people! My favorite chapter is coming up soon too. :) yay!**_


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